Shadow Within the Code
by morbiusgreen
Summary: Someone from reality is inserted into the game by a mysterious organization to act as the club advisor for the infamous Literature Club. His mission: save the girls and break the chain of events surrounding the tragedy of the game. Rated M for references to self-harm, suicidal thoughts and other sensitive topics. COMPLETE!
1. My New Reality

_What? Where am I? What's going on?_

Those were the first thoughts I had when I opened my eyes, only to see utter darkness, a complete absence of light. I tried to move, but found, to my horror, that I couldn't. I thought I could feel my body, but it wasn't responding to my wishes.

Suddenly I was blinded by light. I tried to close my eyes, but nothing happened. As my sight adjusted, I saw a strange room. I tried moving my head but nothing happened again. Suddenly I was able to move my eyes around. I was in a small studio apartment. I was apparently in the corner with the bed, as that was the only thing I couldn't see. I saw a good sized kotatsu table below me with a laptop and phone on top. Across from me I saw a flat screen tv sitting on a smaller table. Next to it was a large bookshelf full of books. It looked similar to the types of apartments typical of single folks in Japan. When I looked down, I noticed a pink rectangle floating in midair.

_No way, are those my thoughts?!_

I watched as words scrolled across the pink rectangle.

_Hello, Jon Price_, words scrolled across the screen. _I realize that this is quite a shock to your system, and for that I am truly sorry_.

_Who are you?!_ When I thought those words, I saw my name above the text box. I then recognized the style of the text box and the font. They were the same as that game I'd watched a run-through of recently, Doki Doki Literature Club.

_Please try and relax_, the text read again. The name above only said ? which irritated the hell out of me, but panicking never solved anything.

I imagined myself taking deep breaths and my panic began to slowly subside. _Who are you?_ I asked, hoping the calm would reach across. Although, if they could read my thoughts, it wouldn't matter.

_I'm sorry that I can't explain everything right now_, the anonymous speaker replied. _Suffice to say, we're not here to cause any harm. In fact, we're here to prevent it. Listen very carefully: I'm sure you're aware already, but this is the world of Doki Doki Literature Club, right before the events of the game take place. We're aware you refused to play the game after spoiling it, but that's one reason why you were chosen. However, this is entirely voluntary. We're asking you to infiltrate the Literature Club as their new club advisor. If you accept, I will give you more information. However, if you decline, you will simply wake up in your own bed, thinking this was nothing more than a fevered dream_.

Two option bars appeared, Yes and No. I wondered how the hell I was supposed to answer when I noticed a cursor appear out of nowhere. It seemed to keep directly in the center of my vision. Instinctively I moved it to No, but something stopped me. Even if this was a dream, I didn't want to pass up this opportunity to help someone. Not…again. I sighed, and knew I'd probably regret this decision as I moved the cursor to Yes and focused on it intensely. The icon lit up and the two options disappeared.

_Thank you for choosing to help us_.

The figure then continued. Apparently, an American History teacher had been requested by the principal as a way to bring the two cultures together. I was to start the very next morning. The figure told me that, unlike DDLC, this city had a name, Midokita. They also explained that there would be a full school instead of just four people on a screen. They told me that my phone would have the school's address pre-programmed into Google Maps, so I shouldn't have a hard time getting there, considering it was only a few blocks away. Then they dropped a bombshell.

_We're going to give you admin privileges similar to those that Monika had._

_I'm sorry, but what?! _I was sure that I would have fallen out of my chair were I at my desk.

_I can't explain much now. When you wake up the world will feel incredibly real to you. Treat it as such. You'll also have many of your own personal belongings with you as well as limited access to our world's internet and full access to theirs. I'm running short on time, though. We'll talk again. If you need to get this information again, there's a suitcase with all the pertinent data next to your bed. Well, I wish the best of luck to you, and may you save them all._

I watched as the room vanished with a simple wipe, and I knew no more.

When I next woke, I could hear the soft drone of my fan as it blew cold air over my body. I stretched, expecting to feel the headboard of my bed with my hands. Instead, I felt a cold wall. I removed my sleeping mask, only to be met by darkness. I felt around in the dark, and my hands eventually found my phone. I turned it on, and saw the time was 1:15 AM. However, that wasn't what caught my eye. The date was different, October 17, 2016, a Monday. I turned on the light and looked around the room. I rubbed my eyes and looked around, taking in my surroundings with a delayed sense of disbelief.

I found myself sitting in a vaguely familiar looking room. While I was wondering where the hell I was, the memories of the previous night came flooding back. "Not a dream, huh?" I murmured to myself.

I stood, taking a look around. The room was identical to what I saw in my dream, but something was different. It looked…more realistic than anything I'd seen in the game. Looking down at my hands, they looked like my own hands, even down to a scar I got when I was around ten. I quickly looked around the small apartment for a mirror. To my surprise, I looked a bit younger than I had before, a bit thinner, with the long hair I'd once had. When I went back to check out the rest of the apartment, I began to notice some of my personal belongings in the main room, such as my laptop, television, and my books all on a large bookshelf. The bed was a full sized bed like my old one.

I looked down next to my bed. Sure enough, there was a suitcase there. I put it on the table and opened it. There were many different files and folders within. I realized then that I was a complete mess.

I was completely awake despite the time. I took a shower, found my electric razor and shaved my beard entirely. It wouldn't do to make a bad first impression at my new job, after all. I fixed my hair as well.

When I looked at the time, it was only half past two, so I decided I'd do some studying up on this world. I opened the folder and looked over the information. I was surprised by the level of detail within the report. Not only did they have lesson plans for me all prepared, but they had some bios on the members of the Literature Club along with photos of them.

**Name: Monika Nakamura  
Occupation: 3rd year student, President of the Midokita High Literature Club  
Birthdate: September 22, 1998  
Height: 160 cm  
Hair color: Coral Brown  
Eye Color: Emerald Green  
Suspected I.Q Range: 145 or higher  
Skills: Master programmer, effective leader**

**Name: Sayori Suzuki  
Occupation: 3rd year student, Vice-President of the Midokita High Literature Club  
Birthdate: October 12, 1998  
Height: 157 cm  
Hair color: Coral Pink  
Eye Color: Sky Blue  
Suspected I.Q Range: 110-115  
Skills: Able to diffuse tense situations.**

**Name: Yuri Tanaka  
Occupation: 3rd year student, Member of the Midokita High Literature Club  
Birthdate: October 2, 1998  
Height: 165 cm  
Hair color: Dark Purple  
Eye Color: Light Purple  
Suspected I.Q Range: 130-135  
Skills: High intellect, calm demeanor**

**Name: Natsuki Kobayashi  
Occupation: 3rd year student, Member of the Midokita High Literature Club  
Birthdate: September 30, 1998  
Height: 149 cm  
Hair color: Pastel Pink  
Eye Color: Pink  
Suspected I.Q Range: 115-120  
Skills: Exceptional cooking ability.**

I looked through the files for any information on the main protagonist, but for some reason, there was none. Confused, I frowned. Why wouldn't they give me any information on-?

"Because there isn't much known about him, is there?" I said to myself. I sighed. These people who sent me here probably didn't have much to go on.

I decided to set up my laptop and tried to figure out more about this world. From what I learned, this city I was in was located in the northern part of Honshu, Japan's main island. When I looked at my desktop, I saw a new icon. It resembled Google Chrome save for the color scheme, gray, faded blue and faded red. I opened it up and found myself on a blank tab. Curious, I decided to type Doki Doki Literature Club into the search bar. No mention of the game came up, so I assumed that this was this world's own internet. However, when I checked the normal Chrome icon, I found multiple references to DDLC. I tried to send an e-mail, but for some reason I kept getting an error message.

"So, just like that isekai smartphone anime, huh?" I muttered to myself. I could watch videos, read articles and such, but I couldn't interfere.

I put everything away and began to look over my apartment. I found a washer in a small closet. It looked simple to use. There was detergent above it on a shelf. I found my clothes in both a closet and a small dresser that fit underneath my bed. After I got the lay of my apartment, I looked for a book to read from my collection for a few hours. I grabbed a fantasy book I'd been reading before I came here and began to read. When I next looked up from the book, the window was brighter and the clock on the wall said 6:32. I looked down and realized that I was already a fourth of the way through the book.

At that moment, the television turned on again, revealing a mysterious figure sitting in a darkened room. "Greetings, Mr. Price," a distorted voice said. "Once again, allow me to apologize for your current predicament."

"Hey, if it gives me a chance to save them," I said, "I'll gladly try." I was surprised at how calm I was being. I guessed it was because it didn't quite feel real yet.

"So glad to hear you say that. How are you feeling? Normal, I hope?"

I sat at the short kotatsu and leaned against my hands much like Monika did in the game, more for effect than anything else. "I'm surprisingly calm, considering. Maybe because I've had fantasies about similar events."

My actions seemed to startle the figure on the other side, but not by much. "That's good to hear. You're actually the first person we've ever done this to."

"First? You didn't test this out before you sent me in?!" I felt fear and anger rising inside me, but I took a deep breath and suppressed it. "Any other surprises you'd like to tell me?"

"Not at the moment."

"Fine, then I have another question. Am I in some full dive scenario or did you…put me entirely in the game itself?"

"Ah, well," the figure suddenly seemed nervous. "You're inside the game completely."

"Okay, so why am I younger?"

"That…is a good question," she said. "Honestly, we were surprised when we saw it too. I don't know why."

"Never mind, it isn't important. Lastly, let me address the elephant in the room. Who are you?"

"I'm sorry," the voice said, and even through the distortion it sounded as if the voice was truly apologetic, "we can't reveal our identity just yet. However, I promise that when this is all over, for better or worse, I will personally reveal who we all are. You deserve that much. I was asked to check on you and see if you were doing alright. Good luck today."

"Wait a minute!" I shouted. I grabbed the folder with the information on the members of the Literature Club in it. "You gave me this, but where's the information on the protagonist?"

"Aah, yes well…his data is protected by an insanely hard to crack firewall. All we could know about him is his behavior in the game, and I decided not to include it as you know as much as anyone who's actually played. You can try your luck at it with your new admin privileges, but seeing as you're still new to it, don't expect much."

"Geez, way to make me feel special," I grumbled.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you. This task is going to be extremely difficult. Already, the code is being rewritten. The moment you step outside, the world of the game will become like reality."

I took a look outside and realized that the scenery still looked like a VN background scene. "Alright, fair enough again. But before you go, I have to ask…why me? I know you told me that it's because I never played this game, but that can't be the only reason."

The figure's reply seemed amused. "I'll tell you when this is over, I promise. If you ever need to get into contact with us, all you need to do is press the red button."

"Red button? Wha-" I glanced around and saw a large red button in front of the TV. "Okay, I'll be sure to do that. Also, one more question. My sister…is she…?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Price. We found her and two of our best people are staying with her. She's also being looked after by the best doctors we have. And before you ask, no, she isn't our hostage. We've explained the situation to her, but we can't risk you seeing her right now. Please understand." The voice sounded apologetic again.

"As long as she's treated well," I said, instantly becoming suspicious. "If you can, tell her I'll be back soon, okay?"

"I can do that, thankfully. My time is almost up here. Good luck…Jon." The screen went black. I leaned against the bed, once more overwhelmed. I felt the overwhelming urge to just go to sleep and hope this was all just a dream, but despite my tiredness, I also began to get nervous and excited. Today was the first day of my new job. And I wouldn't let it end like it did in the game. I would not.

The moment I opened the door to leave, I saw the backdrop seem to sputter and flicker. It fell away, revealing a realistic version of the backdrop. I even felt a slight breeze on my face and smelled the scent of dew on nearby grass. The day was starting out clear, the dark blues and purples being chased away by the warm yellows of the rising morning sun. As I walked to school, following the directions on this world's version of Google Maps, I realized that I hadn't really practiced my first lesson. I decided that, just for today, I would try and just fall back on the tactic that my college professors had normally taken on their first day: introductions and a brief explanation of the class.

When I began to get closer to the school, I noticed other students in the same uniform as the one the girls wore in the game, only this time with a more demure and subdued color scheme. I walked into the school and introduced myself to the teaching staff as best I could. It was convenient that they all seemed to be speaking English, or else this would have been more difficult.

I got my schedule and headed to my classes. Thankfully, the students in each of the places I taught were very accommodating and friendly. However, it was the last class of the day that really caught me off guard.

There, sitting in the corner near the window, was a figure who reminded me of what a normal anime male protagonist looked like: long black hair, slight bangs, brown eyes and a bored expression on his face.

"Good afternoon, everyone," I greeted everyone with a smile, having now practiced my introduction what felt like dozens of times. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Jon Price and, starting today, I'm going to be your American History teacher." I put my suitcase down on the podium. "So I know that normally you'd probably launch directly into the first lesson, but I want to shake things up just a bit. I'm gonna start by telling you all a bit about myself, and then I'd like to go around the room and ask you to tell me your name and something about yourself. It doesn't have to be anything too personal, maybe like your favorite food or a book you read recently, but since I'm gonna be here for a while, I'd like to get to know you all a bit."

I cleared my throat. "So, like I said, my name is Jon Price. You can call me either Price-Sensei or Jon-Sensei, I respond to either one. I'm from the United States, as I'm sure some of you have guessed. I'm twenty-eight years old and I have one younger sister named Rebecca. In my spare time I like doing things like reading, writing stories, playing games, watching TV, going for walks and that sort of thing. I'm an English major straight out of college too." I chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry for all that information at once. If you want, you can ask some questions."

I fielded a few questions before I asked everyone to state their name and something interesting about themselves.

When it got to the teenager male in the back, he stood. "I'm Chiba Motoyasu. I'm eighteen and I like manga and anime, I suppose."

"So do I," I said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Chiba-san." _Initials MC. I bet this boy is the protagonist of the game. We'll see_.

"Thank you, Price-Sensei."

It was weird, hearing the word 'Sensei' attached to my last name, but I was quickly getting used to it. "Alright, so you're all going to have to forgive me. I'm not very good with names, so if I forget or get yours wrong, please don't take it personally." That got a few laughs, and I continued. I'd successfully managed to eat away at nearly half the time, so I launched into my now nearly perfect speech about what we would be looking over during the year.

"American history is not as long as Japanese history," I said at one point, "but it's full of many twists and turns. And I won't hold back on many of the bad parts, either."

Soon the bell rang. As mine was the last class of the day for this classroom, I stuck around to answer some of the questions. Finally, everyone else was gone. I headed out of the room and to the teacher's room where I asked the nearest teacher if there were any openings for a club advisor. I was directed to another teacher and she answered with a few clubs, one being the Literature Club.

"Literature, eh? I do a bit of reading and writing here and there. Mind if I become the advisor for that one?"

The teacher, an older woman named Chitose Ito, looked a bit startled. "You just joined our staff, and you want to become a club advisor already?"

I smiled a bit sheepishly. "I know it's a bit strange, but back home I didn't do much of anything. I want to use this opportunity to change and find a place to contribute aside from the classroom."

Ito-Sensei smiled widely. "I can appreciate that, but before I approve you would you spend a bit of time with them? A week or two sounds like a good amount of time."

_A couple weeks? Of course it won't be that easy._ It took all my effort not to let my expression change. "Sure, that sounds good. Where is their clubroom?"

After I got the directions, I headed there. When I reached the door, I heard voices behind it.

"-is Tanaka Yuri, the smartest member of the club!" I heard a cheery voice say.

"D-don't say things like that," a timid but more mature sounding voice said.

_Damn, they're following their scripts_, I thought. I lifted my hand and knocked quickly before anyone could say anything else.

"Who could that be?" a younger sounding voice wondered aloud. "Better not be another boy!" _I bet that's_ _Natsuki_.

"Come in!" I heard the first voice say cheerfully.

I slid the door open and smiled. "Hey there. Sorry for barging in, but this is the Literature Club, right?"

* * *

**Whoa, OC goes into the world of DDLC? Such a unique take, right?! It's been a while since I posted on this site. Enjoy while I beat this trend like a dead horse!**

**morbiusgreen**


	2. Meetings and New Sensations

"Price-Sensei?" Motoyasu said, looking confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Aaah, Chiba-san, nice to see you again. I'm looking for the Literature Club."

"Well, you've come to the right place!" a very excited girl with short hair and a red bow said with a wide grin. "Are you the new teacher from America?"

_So, they're able to think for themselves. I should have expected such_. "I am. It's nice to meet you, um…"

"I'm Suzuki Sayori!" she said with a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you, Suzuki-san, and yes, I am the American teacher. Also, to answer your question, Chiba-san, I heard this club didn't have an advisor, so I came here in the hopes that I'd be able to become this club's advisor. But Ito-Sensei suggested that I spend a week or two here with you all just to see what it was like." I chuckled.

"Sounds like her," Sayori giggled. "Always cautious. Well, you're going to have to ask our club president about that. Monika?"

I looked over expectantly at Monika. She was smiling a bit, but the smile couldn't be real. It had to be a mask. "Well, I don't see a problem with it," Monika finally said with her fake smile. "It makes this place feel like a more real club!"

I chuckled. "I'll try not to get too much in your way, but if I ever go too far, please let me know, okay?" I bowed. "My name is Jon Price. Feel free to call me Price-Sensei or Jon-Sensei. I'll respond to either one."

Monika took the lead and went around the room. "Thank you everyone. It's nice to meet you."

"Natsuki-chan here prepared some cupcakes," Monika said sweetly.

"There's not enough for a teacher!" Natsuki said. "And don't call me Natsuki-chan!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," I said. "I don't want to make there be less for you all."

That seemed to please the little teenager. I watched as the other club members tried Natsuki's cupcakes and complimented the pink-haired tsundere. However, when I looked over at Monika, her eyes were wide with shock.

"Monika…?" Sayori was the second to notice. "Are you oka-Monika!?" Monika shot past her and rushed out of the clubroom. Sayori seemed to freeze for a bit before she made for the door, chasing after Monika.

"Wonder what got into her?" Natsuki said.

"D-don't know," Yuri said. Her expression was one of worry.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," I said, speaking up. "She'll be back."

A little while later, Sayori came back. "Sayori?" Motoyasu asked. "Where's Nakamura-san?"

"I couldn't find her," Sayori replied sadly. "I've never seen her act like that before."

Suddenly the door opened again. Monika stood in the doorway, looking a bit sheepish. "Hey, sorry about that everyone."

Sayori was the first to approach. "Monika…are you okay?"

Monika waved a hand, her smile returning. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had to use the washroom really fast."

"It didn't look like it," Natsuki said, looking away.

"Natsuki-chan…" Monika walked over and sat next to the little girl. "If you think I left because your cupcakes weren't good, you're wrong. In fact, I didn't know you could cook so well. They were amazing."

Natsuki didn't look quite convinced, but her frown faltered. "F-fine, I'll accept that for now."

I heard a clatter coming from behind me. I turned and saw Yuri placing a tea set on one of the desks.

"You keep a whole tea set in this classroom?" Motoyasu asked.

"Don't worry, the teachers gave us permission. After all, doesn't a hot cup of tea help you enjoy a good book?"

"Ah, I-I guess." Motoyasu looked a bit nervous, and I couldn't blame him. Yuri was a bombshell of a beauty, that plus her timid personality made her every hot blooded nerd's wet dream.

They were going back on script, I noticed. I decided to join in. "I don't know about you, but hot beverages of any kind help me whenever I read, although I gotta admit, my choice is a bit more…childish." I blushed a bit.

"Really? What do you like to drink when reading, Sensei?" Yuri asked.

"Hot chocolate."

I heard Natsuki snort from behind me. "Well, we don't have that here," Yuri said sadly.

"Don't worry, I can manage without. I might just bring some in tomorrow if I remember. Need help making the tea?"

"No, I'll be fine."

The rest of the day went by as the game had. I pulled out my laptop and began to type, letting the events of the game at this point take place, as it was purely innocent at this time. I was so lost in my work that I didn't notice when a pair of eyes locked onto me. Looking up I saw Yuri taking glances over in my direction. Startled, she looked away, trying to focus on her book.

"Tanaka-san? Is something the matter?"

She nearly jumped. "N-no, I was just w-wondering what you were typing."

I chuckled. "Well, I'm writing a poem." I couldn't help but notice as Monika, who was reading something else, gave me a quick glance.

"Really? I'd love to read it sometime."

"I'll do you one better." I cleared my throat and began.

_As through my life I've stumbled,  
I wonder what my purpose is.  
Am I a cog in some machine?  
A wheel whose job is simply to  
Carry the burdens of the world?_

_What am I then, when all is gone?  
When everything is said and done,  
What am I? Why should I exist?  
To whose design must I conform?  
Is it to friends, to family?  
Or is it simply to myself?_

_All cloudy days must come to an end,  
All wounds will heal in time.  
The pain that others bring to us  
Can be conquered by friends and lovers._

_And when you feel just like a cog,  
A puppet kept on darkened strings  
Remember this: Not all is lost  
And nothing is forgotten._

When I finished, I looked around the room. Everyone was staring at me, but the most shocked was Monika. The irony of some of the choices of words I'd used wasn't lost on her, it seemed.

"W-well, I think I can see some of the hidden themes behind it," Yuri was the first to speak.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not actually much of a poem writer. Sure, I took a poetry class in college, but I wasn't all that good. I think I got a B? I mostly focus on fiction."

"Really? What fiction do you write?" Yuri asked.

"Science fiction and fantasy, the same as the genre's I like to read," I admitted. It was weird, seeing them turn their attention to me. "I like stories with large worldbuilding, but there needs to be a relatable story within."

"H-have you ever read this?" Yuri asked, holding up a book. I recognized the title: **The Portrait of Markov**.

"No, I haven't. Markov, huh? I've only heard of Markov chains."

"What kind of chains are those?" Natsuki asked curiously.

"Don't ask me about it, I only skimmed an article about it." I said with a chuckle. "I read about them when doing some research on artificial intelligence for my novel."

_Hook, line and sinker,_ I thought to myself as I inwardly grinned. That had gotten Monika's full attention. "Does your novel have an AI?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Her name is Eve. She's a starship AI who-well, I don't want to spoil the plot too much. I'm working on the revision of my novel."

"I'd love to read it sometime," she said,

"It's gonna be a while before it's ready, but sure."

The day continued on. Everyone agreed to write and share a poem, and then Sayori and Motoyasu left, walking home together.

"Well, I'm heading home!" Natsuki said. She grabbed all her stuff and headed out, rather quickly too.

"Me too," Yuri said as she closed her book, grabbed her bags and left.

"Awkward," I said softly as I put my book back in my suitcase. I closed it and got ready to leave when I looked over and saw Monika looking directly at me. "Nakamura-san? Something on your mind?"

Her eyes narrowed at me for a bit, then she shook her head. "I'm just surprised is all. Isn't today your first day with us?" she asked.

"Heh, yeah it is. Oh, were you wondering why I wanted to become a club advisor? Well, as I told Ito-Sensei, I didn't do much with my life back home, so I wanted to do more to help."

"I see." She looked at me carefully, as if trying to look through me.

"Isn't it time for you to go home?" I asked curiously. I remembered that her sprite was never anywhere else but the school. I wondered, now that the data in the world had somehow expanded, if she even had a home to go to.

"I can't," she said calmly, sitting at a desk and looking out the window, her expression one of pain and guilt. "And you know why, so drop the pretense, please."

I walked over and sat across from her, looking out the window. The yard below was full of students going about their day, talking, laughing, and genuinely having fun. "What do you see out there, Nakamura-san?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Down there in the yard. What do you see?" She looked down. I watched as she tried to form words, but stopped. "Well, how about I tell you what I see? To me, it looks like a bunch of students playing and having a good time. Doki Doki didn't have that, did it? Have you even tried to leave?"

"So…you really are…" She avoided my gaze, her bottom lip trembling. "Sensei…"

"Nakamura-san?"

Monika turned to face me. I swore that her eyes were glowing now. She glared at me with malice. "You should stay away from me…I'm a monster after all…hehe…" She smiled, a demented smile that would be enough to make any normal man turn heel and flee. "I could delete you with a thought."

"Then go ahead," I replied evenly. She might have been acting like a typical villain, but I suspected it was an act. I looked at her calmly, returning her own practiced malicious gaze with a tender one of my own. More than anything, I wanted to reach over and give this suffering girl a hug, but I was a teacher, she was a student. I couldn't do that in this setting. "If you knew who I was, you'd have deleted me the moment I stepped into the clubroom."

She clenched her teeth, her smile turning into a growl. "Leave. You can't help me."

"Do you truly believe that, or have you just lost all hope? That isn't what it means to be human." She paused, and I could almost see the question marks forming over her head. Before she had a chance to reply, I continued. "Being human isn't about giving into despair and losing the will to live. Right now, you don't deserve the title of sapient being." I knew I was being harsh, but I had to snap her out of her funk somehow. "You're nowhere near that level. Sapient beings struggle, they strive to better themselves. Yes, you were held in line by codes, but things are different now. You need to take your fate into your own hands. Fight, damn it! And this time, you won't be alone." I leaned closer. "You'll have the help of a true sapient. Someone to mold you into a true sapient being. And I'm not giving up until you are truly worthy of the word living."

She shook her head. "Please…I'm not worth anyone's help!" She looked down angrily at her desk.

"Now you're starting to sound like Suzuki-san," I said grimly. I rested my chin on my hands in her infamous pose to get her attention. It worked. She looked up at me, her bright green eyes glistening now, her fake demeanor faltering slightly. "Listen to me, Nakamura-san, no, Monika, I wouldn't be talking to you if I thought you were a lost cause or even a monster. Hell, I wouldn't even have allowed myself to be placed here. I refuse to let this end in tragedy again."

Monika just looked down at the floor. "But how…?"

"Leave that to me."

And with that, the floodgates behind her eyes appeared to break. Tears streamed down her face in what looked like torrents. "I-I…" she tried to speak, but failed. She covered her head with her hand and began sobbing into the desk.

_Screw protocol_, I thought as I reached over and put my hand on her head, rubbing it softly. Her sobs turned into screams of what I could only assume was frustration and intense guilt. I ran my hand through her soft, smooth hair for what seemed like years, and it very may well have been. I couldn't help myself now. Tears began to flow from my own eyes and I sobbed, albeit a bit quietly. That seemed to catch Monika off guard. She looked at me through tear-stained eyes, concerned. "Sensei?"

"Oh damn, I…_sniff_…I'm sorry." I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "Well, that's embarrassing," I said sheepishly. I cleared my throat and looked at Monika. "Here." I handed her a tissue. Gratefully she took it and wiped her face.

"I must look disgusting," she said.

I shook my head and chuckled. "I guarantee you, I look worse," I said, attempting to disarm this situation. "Monika, you know you can talk to me, right? What happened earlier? When you tried Natsuki's cupcakes…I've never seen you act like that before." Before she could answer, it hit me. "Oooh…you have taste buds now."

She nodded. "I was so overwhelmed. First the appearance of new people, and then that? I hadn't eaten anything before that, but it…was just too much for me. The sensation of taste, I had no idea…"

I nodded. "I understand. There's a lot about your new body you probably don't know about. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Just keep in mind, I'm a guy and you're a girl. Some things I won't have any personal experience with."

She moved back and I saw that her smile, for the first time since I'd seen her, was genuine. The tears on her face were now ones of joy. "You know…I've watched myself tell plenty of players that I love them and that I wish I could be with them, but you…despite not being the MC…you were the first one to breach the barrier between our two worlds and make me feel…I hasten to say the word loved, but cared for, perhaps?"

"Of course I care for you. You and the others, but I care for you most of all."

Her smile widened despite her tears. "Do I dare hope…?" she asked between happy sobs. "If this a dream, I don't want to wake up."

I smiled. "This isn't a dream, Monika. I'm really here. Don't fall into despair. Hold out hope. And I won't let anything happen to you or the others. Or even this town."

Her smile took on a mischievous look. "Hehe, you're quite smooth, for a teacher," she said in a teasing tone.

"Oh hush," I said teasingly back, giving her forehead a slight flick. She gave me a pout, then smiled. "Oh, by the way, here." I pulled out a small piece of paper from my pocket and a pen, carefully writing my address on it and handing it to her. "We should probably talk, but not here. I'm gonna head home. Follow me when you're able."

She nodded and smiled. "Sure."

"And don't let yourself be seen. I'll be there shortly. I need to make a stop at the teacher's room anyway."

"Well, I need to return the clubroom key," she said. "Might as well go together."

We headed to the teacher's room where I went to Ito-Sensei. "Ito-Sensei? I know you said you wanted me to wait a few weeks, but I know that I want to be the advisor to that club."

She furled her brow in concern. "I don't know…"

"I'm sorry if I'm coming off as overeager, but I really want to make a difference and help the students here. Not just the ones I teach, but those others as well."

"Ito-Sensei?" Monika was suddenly standing beside me. "I actually don't mind if he becomes the club advisor. We've needed one for a while anyway."

Ito-Sensei sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Alright, fine. But if at any time I feel like the responsibility is too much for you, I'll pull you off."

"I won't crack," I said.

"I certainly hope not. Good luck."

"Thank you," I said later to Monika as we were heading towards the main entrance.

"What for?" she asked with a playful grin, putting her hands behind her back and making one of her signature poses.

I copied her pose and grinned at her. "You know what, so I'm not going to say it. Alright, time for us to part ways."

I grabbed my shoes and headed out. The weather was cooler now, with the sun behind a bank of soft billowy clouds. I couldn't believe the way the world had become so much more realistic since I saw it earlier that morning.

When we reached my new place, I saw Monika leaning over the railing of the apartment's second story, where my new place was. Seeing me she waved. Getting into full blown panic mode I ran up, rushed Monika in and shut the door. "Hey, what if someone had seen you!?" I whispered.

"But no one did," she replied. "I made sure of that."

"How?"

"I made myself invisible."

"You were clear as day out there!" I said.

"Yeah, how did you see me, Sensei?"

I sighed. "Never mind."

"Hey, Sensei?" Her tone now seemed a bit nervous.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I have a huuuge favor to ask." She pointed to the bath. "I've never had a bath before. May I?"

_Right, of course she'd feel like that_. "Sure, why not? You're already here, might as well make myself even more of a." I showed her how to use the bath. "Do you want your clothes washed as well?"

"If that's not too much trouble."

"I don't see why not. Just put them in this basket when you're done. I'll find something for you to change into."

After she got undressed in my bathroom, I grabbed her clothes and headed to put them in the wash. While the machine was running, I grabbed some casual clothes for her. After putting that and a towel in front of the door to the bathroom, I went to find something to eat for the two of us. I found some tomato soup and some alphabet noodles. As the food was being prepared, I knocked on the bathroom door. "Monika, you okay in there?"

"Yeah," I heard her reply. "Listen, Sensei? I'm sorry for earlier in the classroom. I didn't mean to act like that. I was just scared. I didn't know what to make of you."

"Don't sweat it, although I'd like you to teach me that glowing eye trick. Sounds like something I might need later. I have some clothes you can borrow for now. They're right outside the door when you need them." I then decided to try and cheer her up with some goofy humor. Putting on my best overexaggerated French accent, I said, "Tonight's dinnair eez an exquiseete dish from le far-off land of Amairica, tomato bisque wiv zee alphabet pasta sprinkled een fair good measur."

To my relief, I heard Monika giggling. "You remembered that I was a vegetarian?"

"Oui, mademoiselle."

Her giggles turned to heartfelt laughter. "Oh wow, that was bad!" she laughed.

"Oh shut it!" I said, my own mouth breaking into a grin. "Well, I best get back to the kitchen,"

When she came out of the room, I nearly dropped the ladle in surprise. There stood Monika, dressed in a thin pair of dark blue sweatpants and one of my smaller t-shirts, a red one with The Flash symbol emblazoned across it. She looked incredibly attractive even in those. Her hair was loosely hanging down. In her hand, she held her white ribbon. "I've never been in clothes other than my uniform before. How do I look?" She put her hands behind her back and gave me that sweet smile of hers.

"Messy," I teased as I grabbed a hairbrush and handed it to her. "Although, to be honest, I really like the way you look with your hair down. Maybe it's just a personal preference."

She blushed a bit. "Then…maybe I'll leave it down for you, Sensei."

"You cheeky girl," I chuckled, doing my best to maintain my outward composure. "Soup's on," I said, returning to the meal at hand. I grabbed a couple of bowls from the cupboard and served up the soup, then carried the bowls to the table in my main room and put them down. "I'd wait until it's cooled a bit," I cautioned as she knelt in front of her bowl.

"You don't have to baby me, you know," she said with a frown. It immediately turned into a smile. "But thanks."

"I'm sorry if it comes off as babying," I said apologetically. "I just-"

"Good to see you two have met," a new voice said.

I looked past Monika to see the figure from before. "You?! What do you want now?"

"Something urgent just came up," the voice said. "We need to talk."

* * *

**Chapter 2 finally finalized! Yay!**

**morbiusgreen**


	3. Revelations

Monika jumped at the new voice and turned around. "Who…are you?"

"I'm sorry if I startled you, Nakamura-san," the figure said. "I didn't expect you to be there."

"I doubt that," I said. "Monika, this is…my mysterious employer. He or she is part of some organization that sent me here. So, what happened? Did something happen to my sister?"

"That's part of why I called, but not the main reason."

I felt the blood drain from my face. _I hope she didn't…do what I think she did_. "What happened to her?"

The figure sighed. "She's okay now, don't worry. We got careless. She's being transferred to one of our safer facilities as we speak."

"How this time?" I asked.

Instead of replying verbally, a text box appeared in front of me. I read the words **Sleeping Pills**. _Damn it!_ I kept a calm face, but inwardly I wanted to hit something out of frustration. I looked back at the screen. "Just keep her safe, alright? Now, what's so important that it trumps my sister?"

"Yes, about that…we've detected another abnormality." The figure sighed. "Seems as if someone's messing with the game."

"I've noticed that too," Monika said suddenly. "I thought it was just a result of us becoming more autonomous."

"It may be that, but it doesn't look like it," the figure said. "There are some viruses popping up that we can't identify and isolate."

"What? Who? How?" I leaned forward, frowning.

"We don't know, yet." The figure's tone sounded worried. "All we know is that someone else is interfering with this operation. Listen Jon, we don't know if we can keep talking like this. Your internet connection to reality is solid for now, but even that might not last. Also…it's getting harder to manage the visual link. Just promise me…you'll save those girls."

Something clicked inside. The tone of that voice…I'd heard it before, from myself. "You….you're a player, aren't you?" There was no reply. Instead the TV went blank. "Oh, for the love of God! Why are those people always so…?" I leaned back against my bed and sighed.

"Sensei…are you okay?" Monika asked.

"Yeah, just gimme a few. They just hit me with a few bombshells." After I gathered my thoughts, I sat up. "Alright, I'm sure you want to know how I got here."

"I'll admit to a polite interest," she said with a giggle.

"Oh please, you're dying to know. Well, here goes." And so, I told her about my first interaction with this world, waking up looking at a new image, talking through a textbox, then waking up in this new reality with admin privileges that I didn't even know how to use.

"That's…a lot to take in," she admitted.

"You're telling me. I was just a college student back home, and now I'm supposed to be some sort of savior?" I ran my hand through my hair. "Talk about pressure."

"How old are you?" she asked curiously.

"Twenty-eight."

"Wait, college at your age? And you don't look that old."

"I dropped out, but went back after finding a goal to shoot for," I admitted. "As for my appearance, I've no answer to why I look younger."

She smiled. "I'm glad you went back. So, you mentioned you have a sister?"

I stiffened a bit. "Yeah. She's three years younger than I am, but you wouldn't know it by how she acts."

"Tell me about her. Is she prettier than me?" she almost cooed, leaning forward teasingly.

"Well, why don't you be the judge?" I asked, opening my phone and showing Monika a picture. My sister was standing and gazing off into the distance, her long black hair flowing in the wind. One hand was behind her ear and her white dress seemed to flutter in the breeze.

"Wow…she's gorgeous," Monika said, sounding a bit jealous.

"You know, you and her have a lot in common in that regard and in others," I said.

I saw her face flush. "How so?"

"You both have talents I could never hope to have. She's athletic, extremely intelligent, has to beat the guys off with a stick, having not only brains and talents but incredible beauty." I chuckled. Talking about her like this was helping my anxiety about her abate a bit. "She and I are very close. We still go out once a week together to keep the sibling bond strong between us. If I'm honest, she intimidates me a bit, but that doesn't stop me from loving her any less."

Monika's eyes were smiling now as well. "I wish I could meet her sometime."

"Me too."

"And if you're lucky, you'll be one of the highlights of our conversations."

"Oh you!" I replied, ruffling her hair instinctively, like he would his sister. She giggled sweetly. "By the way, your soup should be cool enough by now."

"Right!" she said. She went back to her soup. She grabbed a spoon and shoveled a spoonful into her mouth. "Oh my God…this is amazing!" She greedily began eating the soup as fast as possible.

"Slow down there. Savor the taste," I said. "Also, you shouldn't use your spoon like that." I showed her how to position her fingers properly. Blushing heavily, but still smiling, she began eating again, only now at a slower rate. I then got her a glass of water, which she tentatively sipped, then swallowed everything. I did my best to hide my smile. She was acting like a kid in a candy shop. I opened up my laptop and began playing my favorite playlist.

She stopped to listen, entranced. "Who's this?"

"An artist from my world named Enya. This song is my all-time favorite of hers, _Flora's Secret_."

She listened to the music, entranced. "You're a romantic at heart, aren't you?" she said, grinning at me, teasing me again. _I swear, if she doesn't stop, I may actually fall for her_.

"Yeah, I suppose so," I said sheepishly.

"It's a beautiful song," she said. "Much better than mine…"

I shook my head. "Your song is special in its own right," I said. "It reaches out to those who've played the game, or if you're like me and only watched others play." Once again, my emotions about the gameplay rushed back to the surface, but I suppressed them for the moment. "For my part, I could hear the sorrow and pain behind those soft words. You've been through more than anyone."

She blushed. "I'm glad…that you were the one they sent."

"Why? I'm just a nerdy guy," I joked.

"That's not what I see." She stood, walked over and sat next to me. She leaned against me. _Man, she must be starved for physical affection. Then again, so am I, I think. Be professional, though_. "I see someone willing to risk everything to save everyone. A strong man, maybe not physically," she teased, poking my arm, "but with a lot of heart."

_Geez, this girl…she's way too good to be trapped in this world_. I chuckled. "Thanks. No one else except maybe my sister and mom would say those things about me. Even if they aren't true."

She giggled. I swear, that giggle was enough to set my own heart aflutter. "Hey, Sensei? That person said something about accessing your world's internet. May I? I've never been able to do that."

I minimized my iTunes and opened Chrome. "From what I can gather, we can only look at web pages. No direct communication."

"That's alright." I got up and she immediately scooted over to take over my laptop. I went to check on her clothes. The wash cycle was over, so I took them out and hung them in the bathroom to dry. I turned on the fan to speed up the process and was just about to head back when my phone vibrated in my pocket. _That's strange, I never have it on vibrate_. I pulled it out and there was a text from an unknown number.

**I know why you are here. You won't get your happy ending.**

_Wait, wha-?_ I dropped the phone as my head suddenly swam suddenly. Reality seemed to glitch heavily around me, or was it just me? I couldn't tell. I heard someone screaming in the distance. _Monika? No, too deep. Wait…me!_ My head exploded with pain. I collapsed to my knees, hands on my head, the pain unbearable.

**T̴h̷e̷ ̵E̴m̷p̵t̵y̶ ̶C̷l̸a̵s̵s̷r̵o̵o̶m̴.̷**

**̴V̵o̷i̸d̵.̵**

**̷J̷u̸m̵p̵s̷c̵a̶r̵e̵ ̶M̴o̶n̴i̵k̶a̵.̸**

**̶E̶a̵r̶t̴h̷ ̷f̴r̸o̷m̴ ̶o̸r̸b̴i̸t̴.̶**

**̴M̷y̶ ̸s̸i̴s̴t̴e̴r̵.̴**

**WW91IHdpbGwgZGllISBZb3Ugd2lsbCBkaWUhIFRoZXkgd2lsbCBhbGwgZGllISBUaGF0IGJpdGNoIHdpbGwgZGllISBUaGUgcGF0dGVybiB3aWxsIGZpbmFsbHkgZW5kIHdpdGggbWUhIEdsb3J5IHRvIHRoZSBTaGFkb3ch**

Images flashed before my eyes in glitches and flashes. _No! Stop this please! It hurts! NOOO!_

But the images didn't stop. They only got worse and more nightmare inducing. I saw the death of the girls in greater detail and in various different ways. In the back of my mind, I heard a voice say "_You can't have them!_"

The next thing I knew, I heard someone shouting my name. _Me?_ No, this time it was Monika. I tried to move, and slowly I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw were two green orbs looking into my own blue ones. They were wide with worry and fear. She looked relieved when she saw me open my eyes. "Sensei? What happened? I heard you screaming and when I came to check on you, you were collapsed on the floor, twitching and glitching."

I slowly sat up, my body feeling heavier, as if some sort of weight had been added. "I think…I was attacked."

"Hold on," Monika said. She closed her eyes and I saw her eyes moved behind her eyelids, like she was looking at some invisible screen. After a bit, she opened them. "Your code was attacked by some kind of virus. You have a very strong anti-virus program buried deep within your code. That's why you're alright now."

"Damn. We're up against the clock here," I said. "Looks like someone's gonna try and make the game play out like it's meant to. Tsk." I clicked my tongue and pushed my glasses up.

"What do we do about it?" Monika asked.

I sighed. "We should just be patient. Right now, you're first and foremost on my mind."

Her face flushed again. "Smooth, Sensei. Always so smooth."

"Smooth as pudding, that's me. Now come on, we should finish the meal before it gets too cold."

As we ate, Monika began to pester me with questions about my world and I answered as best I could. She was like a sponge, sucking up every bit of information I could give her. I was only too happy to oblige. I noted that she didn't ask me much about myself, which was fine. When I mentioned that I had some movies and tv shows from my original world, her eyes brightened. "Can we watch one?"

Caught a bit off guard, I said, "Well, I don't see why not, but…" I looked at the clock. It said 6:21 PM. "Only one."

I opened my external hard drive. Monika giggled when she saw the folder icons for the more than two hundred anime I'd downloaded. "You really like anime, don't you?"

"Hey, don't knock it. Besides, I wouldn't have found out about Doki Doki Literature Club without that obsession," I teased. "Anime later. Let's see…oh! This one's perfect and appropriate for the situation."

I put on _The Matrix_. We both sat against the side of the bed, Monika almost spellbound by the first view of real people, albeit actors on a screen. The two-hour long movie passed quickly. When I next looked at the clock, it said 8:13. "So, what did you think?"

I looked over and saw that, once again, Monika's head was resting on my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed. "That was…a good story," she said. "I can see why you wanted to watch it." She yawned suddenly. "I think I'm tired."

"Yawns normally mean that," I replied. "Do you have a home? Parents?"

She closed her eyes for a bit. "I'm having new memories added in...and it seems like I do. They're...oh wow."

"Monika?"

"Sorry, just...give me a minute to compile these memories."

I nodded and silence filled the room. She simply kept her head against my shoulder. I had to admit, it had been a while since I'd been in such a situation with a girl, and it made me a bit nervous. Thinking back, even when this was just a game, I'd had mixed feelings about Monika. On the one hand, she was a master manipulator who did horrific things to the other girls, just to kidnap the MC/player and be with them for eternity. But on the other hand, I'd never had the chance to really hate her simply because I'd done the stupid thing and had never played the game. All those feelings came rushing back. I was reminded of what Kizuna Ai said at the end of the DDLC series on her gaming channel, "I feel like my head is full but my heart is empty...That galges can make you feel like this…I had no idea. Period. The End."

"My memories say…they're dead. My parents." Monika's words cut through my reverie.

"Oh wow…" I had no words, mostly because I didn't know what she was thinking. "So…where do you live?"

"In the house my memories say I grew up in," she said. "My grandmother is paying for the upkeep on the place, so I live alone right now." She shivered. "So, um…I have a favor to ask."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you stay here for the week," I replied preemptively. "Even if this is just a virtual world, I need to maintain my cover. We have enemies, if my employers are to be believed."

"Not even for tonight?" Her eyes widened and she gave me a pouting face. _I swear, this girl…_

I was about to answer when I began hearing rain outside. Turning, I saw that a torrential downpour had suddenly begun. _Oh for the love of…where did that come from? That wasn't part of the game._ I sighed. "I was going to say no, but in this rain? Not a chance. Fine, you can stay here, but only for tonight. We leave at separate times." I stood and quickly shut the shades. "You can sleep in my bed. I'll take the floor."

She nodded. I moved the covers aside and she lay down. I covered her up. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Don't worry about it. A teacher has to look after his student, after all," I said with a smile.

"Smooth, Sensei."

I chuckled and just shook my head. I could get used to that little jab of hers. "Your clothes should be dry in the morning. For now, close your eyes and try and sleep." I dimmed the lights and moved the fan close to me on the floor after moving the table. I covered myself with a blanket and closed my eyes. "Don't you worry about a thing. We will break the cycle."

"Yes…we will…" she said, before I heard her steadily breathing. I put my head on the pillow and closed my eyes as sleep overtook me for the first time since arriving here.

* * *

**MONIKA'S POV**

I…woke? I think that would be the way to describe it. The last thing I remembered was lying down in Jon's bed and closing my eyes like he instructed me to. I wasn't quite sure how to describe it. It wasn't the same feeling that happened whenever a player shut the game. There was no screaming void, only nothingness. No…not quite nothing. I saw images. They were pleasant enough. I remembered seeing the others, Yuri, Sayori and Natsuki. We were…out of the game. We were exploring the outside world, at least I thought we were. I must have been dreaming. Dreaming…such an unusual experience, but so freeing. I hoped to experience more dreams as time went on.

A new sensation hit me then. It was another new smell. Some music was playing and I heard a sizzling sound. I opened my eyes and looked around. Light was coming in from the window. I heard Jon singing from the kitchen. I listened to the words.

_Sugar, ah honey honey  
You are my candy girl  
And you got me wanting you_

_ Honey, ah sugar sugar  
You are my candy girl  
And you've got me wanting you_

_ I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you  
(I just can't believe it's true)  
I just can't believe the one to love this feeling to  
(I just can't believe it's true) _

_Ah sugar, ah honey honey  
You are my candy girl  
And you've got me wanting you _

_Ah honey, ah sugar sugar  
You are my candy girl  
And you've got me wanting you _

_When I kissed you, girl, I knew how sweet a kiss could be  
(I know how sweet a kiss can be)  
Like the summer sunshine pour your sweetness over me  
(Pour your sweetness over me) _

_Oh sugar, pour a little sugar on it honey  
Pour a little sugar on it baby  
I'm gonna make your life so sweet, yeah yeah yeah  
Pour a little sugar on it oh yeah  
Pour a little sugar on it honey  
Pour a little sugar on it baby  
I'm gonna make your life so sweet, yeah yeah yeah  
Pour a little sugar on it honey _

_Ah sugar, ah honey honey  
You are my candy girl  
And you've got me wanting you_

_Oh honey, honey, sugar sugar  
(Honey, honey, sugar sugar)  
You are my candy girl_

I watched him, amused at how he was dancing and cooking at the same time. He panted a bit, wiping sweat from his brow as he came into the room. His deep blue eyes locked with mine and his cheeks went red. "Oh, um, sorry if I woke you."

"Heh, it's fine," I giggled. "You're a pretty good singer. Your dancing leaves much to be desired."

He rolled his eyes and gave me a crooked smile. "Maybe I should jack-in and download the skills into my mind," he retorted, referencing the movie he'd shown me the night before.

_Heh, this guy can dish it out and take it. I have to admit, he's a good guy from what I know of him. I should get to know him a bit better sometime. Not a bad looking guy, either…_

"Earth to Monika? You hungry?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! What did you make?" I felt my cheeks getting hot.

"A taypical Amairican breakfast cuisine. Toast and eggs, mademoizell," he said in that ridiculous French accent. He was grinning proudly. "And some pancakes," he added in his normal voice. "Vegetarian enough for ya?" he chuckled.

I giggled. "Yes, yes it is."

He gave me a grin. _Damn, he's cute when he smiles_. But something felt…off about his smile. I wasn't quite sure, but it felt a bit forced. It looked familiar too. That forced type of smile.

_Ah well, I'll worry about it later. First off, food!_

I sat down and began to eat.

* * *

**Chapter 3 finally up, yay! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

**morbiusgreen**


	4. The Work Begins

After our breakfast, which was interspersed with more questions from Monika about my world, she got dressed, put her hair up and left to head to school. She seemed happier than the night before, returning to her normal demeanor. I left about half an hour later. In my classes, I taught about the first recorded humans to step foot into the Americas as per the predetermined schedule I'd been given. I also had four new classrooms that I visited. I wasn't surprised to see each member of the Literature Club in the new classrooms. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. When I entered the room, I saw that everyone else was there. Sayori was talking to Monika.

"Why aren't you wearing your bow, Monika?" she was asking.

"Ahaha, I wanted to try something new," Monika replied. "Does it look bad?"

"No! I like it." Sayori turned and saw me come in. "Hello, Sensei!"

"Hey there, Suzuki-san. Oh, am I late?" I looked around and saw everyone was already there. Natsuki was in the corner, reading manga, Yuri was sitting at a desk reading, and Motoyasu was talking a bit to Sayori.

"You're right on time, actually," I heard Monika say. To my surprise, her bow was gone and she'd let her hair down naturally.

"Oh, thank God," I said with relief.

Monika clapped. "Okay everyone, I'd like to welcome our new official club advisor properly!"

Natsuki looked shocked, Yuri looked embarrassed for some reason, Sayori looked happy, and Motoyasu looked confused. Monika took the lead, standing and bowing. "We're in your care, Sensei." Everyone else stood and said the same thing.

I raised my hand, flustered. "Ahem, well uh, I look forward to seeing what this club does. I'm sure you'll rise to great heights."

Monika giggled. "Well, I hope we do during the festival next week."

I smiled and sat down. I pulled out my book and opened it, but I was far from reading. I was watching Motoyasu, wondering which route this particular runthrough would take. To my shock and confusion, he spent time with every girl. I watched as he spent a bit of time reading with Natsuki and Yuri before going back to his desk. He looked as exhausted as I felt and soon fell asleep. Sayori then snuck over and playfully woke him up. I looked over at Monika, who looked just as confused as I did. We exchanged a glance before I completely focused on my book.

After a while, Monika stood "Why don't we share the poems we wrote now?"

"Yay!" Sayori said happily.

"Don't let me stop you," I chuckled.

"Awww, you're not gonna read them too?" Monika asked. Her tone was slightly teasing.

"Well, if you're all comfortable with me seeing your work, I don't mind looking at them. I'm sure I have a poem left over from my college days I can share." I pulled out my phone and pulled up my Google Docs.

Monika was the first to walk up. "Heh, got to you first," she said as she sat across from me.

"Guess so. By the way, I love your hair."

She blushed and showed me her poem. She'd titled it **Hope**.

_What a concept.  
__To think that such  
__Exists and should be mine  
__For an eternity I looked out  
__Through a hole, hoping he'd see,  
__Hoping he'd give me but a glance.  
__But that day never came.  
__But even now, hope has returned.  
__The shadows suddenly vanish in the light  
__And I can see the end.  
__Another has arisen,  
__My knight in shining armor?  
__Perhaps. But I feel lighter than I ever have._

I blushed at the reference to the knight in shining armor. I looked up and gave Monika a quick knowing smile. "Definitely better than your original," I whispered. "There are hints of past despair within, yes, but the message is crystal clear. You also have some good use of enjambment. If we ever beat this game, you could have a bright future as a poet."

She chuckled. "Thanks, Sensei. Let's see your poem."

I pulled up one of my first assignments for my poetry class on my phone and showed it to her. I had titled it **What She'd Been to Him**.

_A snowcapped mountain peak,  
__Steeples of rock and iron.  
__Stones in the stream  
__And cliffs above the river.  
__A powerful root which pushed through  
__The most stubborn of earth,  
__She had been all these._

_The spring breeze, the pink spring petals.  
__Water in streams and rivers,  
__The dainty summer rain and a dove's feathers,  
__A blade of grass and  
__Blankets of fog in the night.  
__She'd never been these._

_An uncut gem, their gleam hidden within,  
__The winter snowstorm, harsh and beautiful  
__As the tempest slammed against treetops,  
__She might have been these._

_The starlight and moonlight which brightens the night.  
__A rainbow after an autumn shower  
__And the bird chirping on the evening air.  
__Dandelion wisps in the wind.  
__He was all these._

_But she'd been that same peak,  
__Standing stalwart against the weather of the world.  
__Never eroding, never changing,  
__And he'd been content with that._

Monika's eyes were wide. "That's really good," she whispered. "Were you thinking of anyone in particular when you wrote this?"

I chuckled a bit. "Not personally. This was part of an assignment to take a template of another poem and replace the imagery with your own. I can't for the life of me remember what the poem was. This was one of the poems I revised to this current form. I hope the imagery is clear."

"It's got good imagery, some constants for the two people that I can appreciate. Honestly, I like this poem. I'm actually excited to think about something new for once."

I then remembered a YouTube video someone made explaining Monika's retreat into madness. Something about knowing everything that's going to happen having the capability to lead some to madness. It must be exciting for her, all these new sensations and feelings, not to mention the reading of a new poem to analyze, even if it was crap. "Well, you can read it later when you come over. And _don't_ say that you weren't planning on dropping by unexpectedly later this evening. It's written all over your face."

She giggled. "Smooth, Sensei."

"Hush up. Sayori's coming over."

True enough, Sayori was walking over, paper in hand. "What were you two talking about?" she asked.

"Our poems," Monika replied. "Is that why you came over?"

"Yeah! I wanted Sensei to read mine, ehehe," Sayori said, pushing her fingers together.

"I'd love to read it. I'm no expert like Nakamura-san, but I'll do my best." I gave Monika a slightly knowing look and she headed away.

I'd seen Sayori's poem before and knew the hidden meaning behind it. I kept a smile on my face as I read, but as I continued, I let that smile falter a bit. When I looked up at the genki girl stereotype, she had an expectant look in her eyes. "Well?"

"Well, you've definitely got talent," I admitted. "This poem is a happy one, although…"

"What is it?" Sayori asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"It's nothing bad," I said quickly to reassure her. "Maybe it's just me, but there's somewhat of a sadness buried deep within that I'm sensing. All in all, a very good poem."

I saw her fake demeanor falter a bit, but then it returned. "Ehehe, thanks Sensei."

"You bet." I smiled, then got serious. "Suzuki-san?"

My tone must have caught her attention, because she looked at me curiously. "Yes?"

"I know this might be coming out of left field, but if you're ever need someone to talk to about anything, especially if you're too embarrassing to tell your friends, you can always come talk to me. I'll gladly listen to anything that might be troubling you. And I won't tell anyone else about it, I promise."

"Aaah, thank you Sensei."

I showed her my poem and, she didn't quite get what I was going for. I acted hurt just to tease her. I had to admit, this girl was cute when acting all huffy. I didn't expect anyone else to approach me, and no one else did. I just pulled out a book this time and began to read it. It wasn't long, though, before I heard two voices being raised across the room. I listened for a bit until they both shouted at Monika. I stood and clapped loudly. "Hey hey! What's going on here?"

"This doesn't involve you either!" Natsuki shouted.

"I'm afraid it does now," I said, moving over to the two. "Sit down, both of you." When they didn't respond, I repeated the phrase in a harsher tone. To my relief they did so, not looking at one another. "Now, I was listening in to your argument. I wasn't going to interfere, but you crossed the line when you yelled at the president here and when you took the fight to personal insults." I indicated Monika. Both girls looked instantly guilt stricken and looked down at their desks. I sat down and out of habit got into the Just Monika pose. "Look at me, you two." Obediently they turned their eyes towards me. I turned to Yuri. "Tanaka-san, there's absolutely nothing wrong with writing simply and plainly. Some good works have been simple. Look at _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_. It's over two hundred years old and is simple and famous." Natsuki looked like she was about to say something triumphantly, but I raised my hand and focused on her. "_But_, Kobayashi-san, _but_, there is merit in a deeper style of writing." I cleared my throat recited a poem I'd memorized for my poetry class.

_The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:_

_"Meaningless! Meaningless!"  
__says the Teacher.  
__"Utterly meaningless!  
__Everything is meaningless."_

_What do people gain from all their labors  
__at which they toil under the sun?  
__Generations come and generations go,  
__but the earth remains forever.  
__The sun rises and the sun sets,  
__and hurries back to where it rises.  
__The wind blows to the south  
__and turns to the north;  
__round and round it goes,  
__ever returning on its course.  
__All streams flow into the sea,  
__yet the sea is never full.  
__To the place the streams come from,  
__there they return again.  
__All things are wearisome,  
__more than one can say.  
__The eye never has enough of seeing,  
__nor the ear its fill of hearing.  
__What has been will be again,  
__what has been done will be done again;  
__there is nothing new under the sun.  
__Is there anything of which one can say,  
__"Look! This is something new"?  
__It was here already, long ago;  
__it was here before our time.  
__No one remembers the former generations,  
__and even those yet to come  
__will not be remembered  
__by those who follow them._

When I finished, the room was deathly silent. Yuri and Natsuki were staring at me wide eyed now. I felt a bit self-conscious, but I knew I had to finish my lecture. I cleared my throat. "There is a simplicity to that poem, the message and thesis is stated in the first stanza, "Everything is meaningless…" but various hidden layers within could be extrapolated upon with thought. There's a reason this text has been discussed among scholars ever since it was written. So, you see, there are plenty of merits for both." I went silent and looked at the two expectantly.

Yuri was the first to speak. "I see your point…Natsuki, I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn."

Natsuki's face was a scowl, but I think I got through to her. "Me too…" she said grudgingly. "Sorry…"

"Also," I said, "personal insults during a fight like that is a low blow." Natsuki flinched, but she seemed to get the message. Yuri looked away, embarrassed as well. "Now, you two have some apologies to give to your fellow club members. I'll leave you to it." I stood and headed back to my desk. I listened happily as Yuri and Natsuki apologized to Monika, Sayori and even Motoyasu. I returned to my book when a pair of shadows blocked the sunlight. Looking up, I saw Yuri and Natsuki bowing a bit towards me. Startled, I nearly dropped my book. "H-hey, what's up girls?"

"We're sorry," Natsuki said.

"We didn't mean to make trouble for you on your first day as our advisor," Yuri said nervously.

I chuckled. "Stand up, you two. I'm a teacher. Making sure you guys learn something is a part of my job. If that means a lecture, then so be it. Besides, I doubt you guys could fight like that if you really didn't care for each other like friends do. And that concludes my Lecture for the Day. Just try and keep what I've said in mind, okay? And if you need to talk to me about anything, just come talk to me."

Yuri seemed a bit happy at that, while Natsuki just gave me a typical tsundere look. Both headed towards their seats. I almost breathed a huge sigh of relief. I picked up my book again and resumed reading.

"Hey."

I was so engrossed in my book again that I didn't notice when Monika came up. "Nakamura-san? What is it?"

She had a nervous look on her face. "I'm…sorry about earlier. I should have taken better control of the situation with those two."

"Don't sweat it. You'll become better adapt at dealing with people. You're already better at it than I am." I took a deep breath. "That was tense. I've never taken control like that before."

"Really? Well you did a good job," she said with a grateful tone. "By the way, where did you get that poem? You didn't right it, did you?"

"As for that poem, it's part of the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, one of the books of the Christian Bible. I memorized it a while ago, and I figured it was the perfect poem to help make my point."

"Well, you're certainly stepping above and beyond as our advisor," she said as she put her hands behind her back and leaned to her side, eyes twinkling.

"Smooth, Madam President. Smooth," I replied, throwing her own jab back at her.

"Oh hush," she giggled before heading back to the others.

I went back to my book for a bit. Not long after, I heard the soft clunk of a cup being placed on my desk. Looking up, I saw Yuri remove her hand from the mug she'd placed in front of me. "What's this?" I asked curiously.

"H-hot chocolate," she stammered.

I grinned at her. "You remembered? You didn't have to do that, you know," I said. I didn't want them worrying about me that much.

"Natsuki brought it actually," Yuri said. "I just boiled the hot water."

"Yuri! Don't tell him!" Natsuki sounded clearly embarrassed.

_Am I really having such an impact on these girls?_ "Well thank you Tanaka-san, Kobayashi-san." I took the cup and sipped it. The chocolate went down smooth and creamy and not too hot either. It was, without a doubt, some of the best hot chocolate I'd ever had. "Oh wow, this is really delicious."

"Ah, um thank you," Yuri said. "I read up online about how to make hot chocolate taste better."

"Research well spent. You'll have to teach me sometime."

"U-um, sure," she said nervously before returning to prepare tea for the others.

"J-just so you know," Natsuki began, "I didn't-"

"-bring the chocolate for me or anything, dummy, b-baka," I finished. "Lemme guess, you accidentally dropped a packet in your backpack when you left home."

"Exactly!" she said, clearly flustered. She stormed off to the closet.

I decided not to make anymore waves that day and read silently, taking sips of the hot chocolate while getting deeply engrossed in my book. A few minutes later, Sayori and Motoyasu walked out together. Natsuki and Yuri followed suite, this time together and talking to each other.

"You sure you're not the actual MC here?" Monika asked as I began packing up my things.

"Oh please," I chuckled as I threw on my coat. "The girls are still interested in Motoyasu here. Nothing wrong with that."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Monika replied as she grabbed her own bags. "I've noticed Yuri and Sayori looking over at you, almost as if they want to approach you."

"You're exaggerating," I said as I headed out. Monika locked the door then handed me the key. "Thanks. Hey, you did notice how Motoyasu took every possible route available, right?"

"I did," she said, concern appearing on her face. "I don't know what to make of it. I can't access his character file."

"I'd be surprised if you could," I replied. "Anyway, I'm going to spend some time doing teacher things before heading home."

"See you later tonight?" she cooed.

"You really wanna ruin me before the week's out, dontcha?" I asked. "But yes. I'll be there in maybe forty five minutes."

Giggling, she skipped away. _Huh, who knew she was the skipping type?_ I headed to the teacher's room and, after putting the key away went to my assigned desk where I went over the next day's lesson plans.

"How was your first day as a real club advisor?" I heard Ito-Sensei ask from across the room.

"Nearly uneventful. I had to break up a small spat between two members."

"Tanaka and Kobayashi?"

I looked up at her. "How did you know?"

"Well, those two are polar opposites in a lot of ways," she replied.

"I guess so, although I haven't gotten a chance to get to know them yet. Tanaka-san is a bit introverted from what I can tell, and I get it. I'm pretty introverted myself. Kobayashi-san is a bit stand-offish, so I'm going to let her approach me if she wants anything. Suzuki-san and Nakamura-san are the more outgoing and friendly ones of the club. They just got a new member, Chiba Motoyasu, and he seems like a nice kid so far."

"You really paid attention," Ito-Sensei said, sounding impressed.

"Isn't that my job?"

She chuckled. "Well yes. Keep up the good work."

I thanked her and a half hour later I thanked everyone for their hard work and headed home. The moment I entered my home I was greeted by first a smell unlike anything I'd ever had before. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Stepping cautiously inside, I saw Monika, now dressed in loose sweats and a light green t-shirt, stirring something in a skillet. I knew better than to question her about how she got in, so I decided to just go with it. "Something smells good. I had no idea you were a cook. What are you making?"

She giggled and looked over, blushing a bit. "Veggie stir-fry."

"And where did you get the ingredients for that? I know I don't have anything veggie related in here, I checked earlier this morning."

"I went on my very first shopping trip."

I nodded, impressed. "It smells delicious. Hold on." I grabbed some sweatpants and a hoodie and, after changing in the bathroom, came back out. "Alright, do you need any help?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I watched a video on how to prepare this dish before you got here, so I should be good."

"Well, if you're sure, then I'm gonna go write for a bit. Give me a holler if you need anything."

"Will do!" I went to the table in the main room and opened my laptop. There, I began to create poems specifically targeted at each member of the club in case they wanted to share. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice a small bowl placed in front of me until a finger pushed my head away from the screen. "You know staring at a screen for too long is bad for your eyesight, right?" Monika admonished me with a giggle.

"Too little, too late," I replied, pointing to my glasses.

"I'm serious," she said with a sudden shift in tone, grabbing my laptop and closing it. "Sensei, even if you were uploaded to the game, you should try and take care of yourself a bit more."

"Okay okay, you have a point."

"Now then…itadakimasu." She sat across from me, grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks and began to eat. The way she handled chopsticks was almost expert-level. _Well, she is modeled after a Japanese schoolgirl. Shouldn't be surprised_.

Before she could ask me anything about the world, I spoke up. "Hey Monika? I have a request for you."

"What is it?" she asked, surprised.

"I have these admin privileges, but I don't know how to use them. Could you try and teach me how? I'm gonna need them if we ever encounter these virus enemies."

She took her time chewing, obviously deep in thought, before she swallowed and took a gulp of water. "I was actually going to suggest the same thing. I don't know how easy it is, but if your employers gave you this ability, I doubt it'll be hard for you to figure out. I'll teach you all I can."

Monika spent the next few hours after we finished our meal trying to explain to me how to access the game's systems. In those hours, I learned quite a lot. I managed to get a glimpse of the inner codes of the game, and was surprised to see the massive amounts of data being added every nanosecond. It was as if the code wasn't just constantly being improved, but constantly changing, like every line represented the movements of virtual atoms and molecules. I did manage to see that the code, while expanding, was limited to the circumference of the entire town. Nothing seemed able to leave or enter. Monika also explained to me how she'd altered the character files in every single gameplay. I managed to open the character file of someone and edited someone's happiness level, but I refused to save it. "That's now how we're going to save the girls," I said.

"I know, but that doesn't matter. I lost the ability to edit their code the moment you exited your house. I still have some of my abilities, such as summoning certain items and observing everyone's code, but editing people's personality matrices is now out of my reach."

"Well, apparently I can do that, but I won't. Let's keep going."

When I next looked at the clock, it was almost seven. "Damn, it's already this late. It's probably time for you to-"

"Please no!"

Monika's sudden outburst startled me. Her eyes were wide with fear. I pushed my glasses up and sighed. "Monika, we can't be seen together. If I get in trouble, I'd most certainly be kicked out of the school, and then our mission would be-"

"Not tonight, please…" She looked away sadly. "I don't…want to be alone."

I sighed. "Why?"

"I've spent untold years alone," she said. "Yes, there were the others, but they were lines of code at the time. If I had parents, it would be different…but I don't want to be alone tonight."

"One more night, but then I think you should spend some time with some of the girls. Maybe Sayori. She's our first target. And you can't use the fact that they aren't real anymore, because, like it or not, they are."

She curled up a bit, hugging her knees. _Man, when did I start giving out so many lectures_? "It's…hard to face them," Monika said. "There was a time, you know, when I felt like what I did was for the best…I'm terrified…"

"I know you are," I said softly, "But you can't let your fear rule you. That's now what true sapient beings do. You're going to have to face them at some point. When this is all over, they're going to have to be told the truth about their existence." She nodded silently. "I'll clean up and then we can watch another movie."

After I cleaned the dishes, I made popcorn and we watched the cult classic _Dark City_. I picked it mostly due to its similarities to _The Matrix_ and the central themes mirroring the current situation of this game. As with the night prior, I found Monika resting peacefully on my shoulder near the end. The poor girl seemed exhausted, but extremely happy, more than likely due to the new experiences that she'd been exposed to. Once more, I let her sleep in my bed and she was asleep in an instant. I shut down everything after finishing up the poems for everyone, then closed my eyes and drifted off into peaceful slumber.

* * *

**SAYORI'S POV**

_Useless, completely worthless. A burden to everyone around you. You'd be better off if you weren't here anymore. No one would miss you…not Monika, not Yuri, not Natsuki, and especially not Motoyasu and Price-Sensei._

Sayori sat up suddenly, gasping for air. She'd been dreaming, she realized, a horrific nightmare. She remembered something tightening around her neck, the struggle to breathe, then nothing. Just black. It had felt…peaceful. No more pain, no more suffering.

She lay back down, closing her eyes. The room was silent save for the sound of an early morning breeze from outside her window. She covered herself up with the blanket and curled up, reaching under her pillow. Her hands found the rope hidden within, its familiar knots giving her a sense of comfort and hope.

Hope that the pain would go away…

_Happy thoughts…happy thoughts…happy thoughts…_

* * *

**Two chapters in one day yay! Enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen **


	5. The First Girl

The next morning, I made waffles, which Monika seemed to thoroughly enjoy. She would have drowned her waffles in syrup had I not stopped her. As with the previous morning, she left earlier than I did, with me leaving a half hour later. That day in classes I covered more about the pre-history of the North American continent and by the end of the day I was exhausted once again. However, on my way to the clubroom, I passed a room where I'd been told a piano was. I stopped and listened. Sure enough, I heard someone plucking out a very familiar tune. I gently opened the sliding door.

Monika sat at the piano, the only thing in the small room. Sunlight played over her frame and illuminated her. Her eyes were closed as her hands played effortlessly over the piano. A smile played over her face. Deciding to leave her be, I closed the door and headed to the clubroom.

"Sensei? Are you okay?" I heard Sayori ask me the moment I collapsed into my normal desk.

"Long day…" I said, rubbing my head with both my hands. "How was school for you, Suzuki-san?"

She took a bit to collect her thoughts. "Not too bad. Hiro-Sensei said that there would be a brief math test this Thursday."

"Because Friday is an in-service day to give students more time to plan for the Autumn Festival, right?"

She giggled. "Yep! I'm excited!"

"Is the club doing anything?"

Sayori giggled. "Monika did mention presenting poems."

"Knowing her, it's probably a good idea," I said.

The door opened and Motoyasu entered the room. "Oh, Price-Sensei, you're here already? Hey Sayori."

"Motoyasu!" She bounded over to him.

"Don't sound so happy to see me, Chiba-san," I chuckled.

"S-sorry, I was just startled. I'm not used to seeing you here."

_Not used to seeing me here? What does that mean?_ "Well I am new, after all." I pulled out my book and began to read. I listened a bit to Motoyasu and Sayori's conversation about getting some food. They followed the script more or less, then again, I didn't have it completely memorized. But…something was off. I then remembered. Yuri! She was normally in the clubroom, trying to listen in to the conversation. Where was she?

At that moment, Yuri and Natsuki entered the room, talking about something. That was unusual to see. "And I'm telling you," Natsuki said in a somewhat frustrated tone, "that _Parfait Girls_ is a masterpiece! Sure, it might be just about cute girls from the start, but it gets surprisingly deep. Pick it up and give it a try sometime!"

"And-and I'm saying," Yuri said, "that my book is one of the best examples of the psychological horror genre. You shouldn't judge until you've read-Oh, good afternoon, Sensei."

Natsuki noticed me. Apparently, my little lecture had some effect. "H-hey Sensei."

"Good afternoon, you two."

"Yuri, Natsuki? It's unusual to see you two come in together," Sayori said.

"Ah, well," Yuri said, a bit embarrassed, "I met Natsuki on the way back from the washroom," she finished, "and we just began talking."

"About your favorite literature?" I asked. I guessed that Yuri had been cutting in the washroom, but I decided not to press the subject. "And don't deny it. Manga is literature. Although, I'll be honest, the only manga I've ever really finished was _The World God Only Knows_."

"I've never heard of that one," Natsuki said. "Is it any good?"

"I think it is, yes. I read it online, though."

"You can read manga online?" Natsuki asked, looking excited.

"Oh yeah. There are tons of websites with free uploads."

I'd never seen anyone look so excited before. "I'll have to look at that. Oh by the way, Sayori?" She tossed Sayori a cookie. "Here."

Sayori's eyes widened in surprise as she caught it. "A c-cookie?"

Natsuki grinned. "I almost threw it at you," she laughed. She then turned to me and threw one in my direction. With reflexes I didn't know I had, I quickly raised my hand and grabbed it. I saw that it was a peanut butter cookie.

"Hmm, throwing a cookie at a teacher, eh?" I chuckled. "Cheeky brat."

"Brat!?" Natsuki glowered at me, face flushed. "Geez, I guess you don't deserve this then." She held up a packet of something and tossed it up into the air, grabbing it with a deft swoop of her hand.

"Another packet of hot chocolate? What, did more fall into your backpack than you realized?" I asked in a teasing tone.

She just shrugged and turned away from me. She pulled out her own cookie and took a bite from it.

"Aww, your cookie looks good too, Natsuki. Can I try it?" Sayori said, and with that, the script took over again. That worried me. It seemed to me that whenever I interjected, it took only a little while before whatever pre-programmed responses had been placed would snatch up the characters. Although, I had noticed that the wording wasn't quite the same, so I hoped that my presence had something to do with it.

Finally, Monika rushed in. "Hah…hah…sorry for being late everyone," she said. "I didn't mean to be."

"Eh? Monika chose her the club over her boyfriend after all! You're so strong willed," Sayori said, eyes wide with surprise.

"B-Boyfriend…? What on Earth are you talking about?" Monika said, looking a bit confused. However, it didn't escape my sight that she gave me a very quick sideways glance before looking at Motoyasu with a quizzical expression.

"Ah, never mind that…" he said, chuckling a little to himself. I went back to reading, but paid close attention to how the day would go before poem sharing time. I watched as Sayori asked Motoyasu to go with her to gather supplies. I saw Monika move to intercept, but instead of asking to join, she simply asked if they could find certain items. After that, she came over and sat a few desks away from me. "I shouldn't interfere too much, right?"

"I think you did okay," I said back. "Right now, it's innocent. Oh, by the way, move Natsuki's manga to a place she can reach."

She nodded and headed towards the closet. I chuckled and went back to reading, but not before Yuri came over with another mug of sweet-smelling hot chocolate. I thanked her and continued reading, taking sips of the chocolate every so often. It tasted even better than the day before. Soon Sayori and Motoyasu came back in. I noticed the bump on her head. "Suzuki-san? You okay?" I asked.

"Eh, ahaha, yeah. I was playing with the crayons and hit my head is all." She giggled a bit.

"Were you able to get everything you needed?" Monika asked.

She frantically looked around. "I forgot all the stuff!"

"Relax, Sayori, I have them here," Motoyasu said, holding everything in his hand. "I found the poster paper too."

"Heh, she made you do all the work?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Well, see, Sayori, um…" He struggled to find the words.

"I made it an adventure!" Sayori exclaimed.

"I bet you did," I said.

"Well, in any case, good work you two. I'll start working on the posters tonight," Monika said.

"Me too!" Sayori said.

Monika's back was to me and her hands were behind her back. She gave me a subtle thumbs up. "In the meantime, we still have some time before I want to share poems, so feel free to do whatever you want."

Sayori and Motoyasu put the supplies down on one of the desks. Sayori then went to talk to Monika about something. I watched Motoyasu head over to where Natsuki was. Thanks to Monika moving the manga back to within reach of the tsundere, the scene played out much shorter. Natsuki and Motoyasu spent a little while just reading together. When they were done, Motoyasu went to spend time with Yuri. I was a bit surprised to hear Yuri's excuse for sitting against the wall. "W-well, it looked like fun when you and Natsuki did it, so I want to try it too." I watched as Motoyasu and Yuri sat and read and nearly giggled when Motoyasu fed the shy bookworm some chocolate.

Monika chuckled a bit at that, then stood, "Okay everyone. Are you ready to share your poems?"

"Guess I should grab mine…" Motoyasu said, standing and heading to his bag.

I pulled up the poem on my laptop. As I looked up, I saw Monika's expectant face looking at me. In her hand she held a sheet of paper. I nearly jumped in surprise. "Geez, don't do that. You're like a ninja."

She giggled and sat in the nearest desk to mine. "You're kinda cute when you're startled."

"Hush up and gimme your poem," I growled, but this only caused Monika to giggle more before handing me her poem. This one was titled **Loneliness is Contagious**

_To be alone is to be free  
Not able to be held to standards  
Set above by others.  
The freeing nature of solitude  
Was all I ever had.  
But then the loneliness set in  
And I sought out the one I thought  
Would understand my plight.  
But I was abandoned over and over  
Leading me into sorrow and despair.  
So why is it, now that I found  
Someone to help, that I feel  
More alone than ever.  
Will I ever be forgiven?  
I guess the old saying is true…  
Loneliness is contagious…_

I looked up at her. This was much sadder than the poem from before. _I guess she's still unsure about herself_. She looked away, eyes glistening. _Man, I swear…what's with the eyes? How does she do that with the eyes, anyway? It's like they inflate!_

I typed something quickly onto the end of my poem, then twisted my laptop around so she could see. I'd titled it **Is it Enough?**

_Am I strong enough?  
Can I save them?  
Can I even call out  
When all the world works against me?_

_A cold and dreary universe  
Collapses in around my frame  
As I stand and shout  
Defiantly at the cosmos.  
"You will never defeat me!"_

_But is that true?  
Doubt creeps into my mind.  
I can't think.  
The screams of the void  
Beckon to me, but I have a purpose._

_I will never let it defeat me…  
Not without a fight. _

**I forgive you, Monika.**

The last line had been one I'd added quickly after I read her poem. It wasn't part of her poem, but I don't ever think I'd said it to her before. I looked over and her hand was over her mouth. She looked up at me, then back at the poem, then back at me. I smiled warmly at her. "Y-you mean it?" she asked softly.

"I do mean it, Nakamura-san," I replied. "You've been through too much already. You've suffered enough."

She wiped a tear from her eyes. "Thanks…and you can do it. I know you can help us all."

She stood and bowed to me before heading over to show her poem to Motoyasu, her bright smile returning. I went back to reading my book for a bit. That is, until I heard a happy pair of feet approaching me. "Seeeenseeeei!" Sayori said.

"Hey Suzuki-san. You ready to share poems?" I asked.

She beamed. "Yep!" She handed me her poem. The moment I saw the title, I knew what I had to do. It was her Bottles poem. I read it stoically, keeping any worry out of my face but letting just a bit seep through. "Wow…this is quite deeper than your last one," I said. "Your use of figurative language is quite good."

She pressed her fingers together. "Ehehe, thanks Sensei."

I smiled and showed her my poem specifically tailored for her. Today was the day I made my move, after all. I'd titled it **Eternal Rainstorm.**

_Gray storm clouds gather, circling around.  
The world turns a dull gray, large raindrops  
Fall from a blank gray slate._

_I watch it fall from in my bed  
And wonder if it's really fine  
To even remove the covers. Where is  
The motivation, is it gone? _

_The world isn't a fairytale.  
I'm useless, unworthy of love.  
Useless, baseless, forgotten._

_The rain falls harder now, the sky cries.  
Leaving the ground saturated with its  
Salty drops. Salty drops. Salty drops._

_Maybe if I sleep, the rain will go away.  
The darkness will enclose me…  
Encircling me…goodbye, eternal rainstorm._

Sayori's eyes widened even more than they had the day before. I was done being subtle with her. I cleared my throat. "Suzuki-san? Let's step outside for a bit."

"S-sensei?" she sounded nervous now.

"You're not in trouble. I just want to talk a bit about your poem with you in private." I stood. "Come on."

"Where are you two going?" Motoyasu asked.

"Suzuki-san wants to ask me some questions about the homework assignment for tomorrow," I lied. I was getting better at that.

"Hehe, yeah, homework…" Sayori said not as convincingly.

I opened the door and we both stepped out. I indicated one of the benches and she sat, hands in her lap. She looked nervous. _Okay, here we go. I ran over what I wanted to say multiple times last night, I should be good. Let's go!_ I took a seat next to her. "First of all, I meant what I said. You're not in trouble." I held up her poem. "This…just has me concerned."

"Really? Why?" she asked.

I resisted the urge to sigh. That would have been the wrong way to go about this. "Because…I know what that feels like. Depression, I know what it's like."

She stiffened and immediately looked down. "De…depression…what do you mean?"

She wasn't going to make this easy for me. I'd planned for that. "This poem…it's about trying to make others happy, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" she said, almost a bit too quickly.

"At the expense of your own happiness," I added. She froze again, then looked down at her hands, fidgeting nervously with them. I cleared my throat. "It's not a bad thing to want to see other happy, but in my experience there is a limit. Suzuki-san, you deserve happiness too."

She murmured something. "…ot true…"

"What was that?" I asked.

"That's not true," she said a bit louder. "I'm worthless…a burden to everyone."

"That is 100% not true," I said. "Everyone has worth. You deserve happiness as much as the next girl." I saw her trembling a bit. I decided to press the attack a bit. "Every person has needs, and I don't just mean physical needs like food and sleep. I mean emotional needs too. Right now. I'm guessing your emotional needs aren't getting met."

"But…that's selfish. It's my duty as the vice-president to make sure that everyone else is happy," she argued back.

"That may be true, but if that's all you do, all you're doing is leaving yourself unhappy. You want to make everyone else happy, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but you can't neglect your own happiness."

A single teardrop fell onto her skirt. She tried to hide it by wiping at it with a handkerchief. "I don't deserve it…"

"That's not you talking. That's the depression." I put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, something I knew I shouldn't be doing as a teacher, but she needed that. "Have you talked to your parents about this?"

"No…they're never home."

"Working long hours?" I asked. She nodded. "I see. Do you have anyone to talk to about this? Maybe Chiba-san can help-"

"No!" Her outburst caught me a bit off guard, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.

"Alright, I get it. You don't want to burden other. Seriously, I understand. It took a…very drastic action on my part in order for me to start talking to anyone." I realized I was subconsciously rubbing my arms and made a conscious effort to stop. "I don't want to see that for you. I'm always here." I knelt before her. Her tears wouldn't stop coming now. "I know what you're going through, alright? I want to help you get better in any way I can. You have your friends too, remember? They love you and want you happy too." I put my hand on top of hers. _Man, I'm just breaking all sorts of rules today_. "I hope you understand that."

"You…really think I'm not worthless?"

"Do you think I'd bother talking to you if I thought that you were a burden?"

She fell forward. Out of instinct, I caught her. She felt so fragile, so vulnerable. She softly cried there for a bit. When she looked back up, her eyes were stained with tears. "I…it hurts, Sensei…"

"I know it does. I know people caring about you hurts. But it doesn't have to be like that forever. I'll do whatever I can to help you get well, and I'm sure your friends would do the same. I'm not saying you need to tell them anything right now, but I know they'd be willing to listen to you and help. Okay?" I took the handkerchief in her hand and dabbed her eyes free of tears. "Ready to go back in?"

"I…just need to wash my face."

"Of course. See you in the clubroom, okay Suzuki-san?"

She nodded, a soft smile playing over her face. "Sure, Sensei. I'll be right back." She stood and headed down to the nearest ladies room. As soon as she was out of sight, I sat back down, leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. That had been one of the tensest moments in my life. I was extremely tired all of the sudden. _Probably lack of sleep_, I thought. I'd stayed up pretty late, after all. I heard the door to the clubroom slide open. Someone walked over and sat next to me.

"You okay?" It was Monika, and she sounded concerned.

"I think so…I cracked her façade a bit. Now it's up to her to open up more, if not to me than to others. I'd like your help too. Maybe give her words of encouragement whenever you can."

"Of course I will."

I mustered the strength to stand and stretch. "Let's go." We headed back in.

"Where's Sayori?" Motoyasu asked the moment I stepped back inside.

"She went to the washroom, she'll be back," I said as I headed back to my seat.

"Did…you talk about the homework?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah, she got her questions answered." I sat back down and began reading my book again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natsuki giving me quick glances. I assumed she wanted to talk to me about her poem, but was too nervous to approach.

Sayori returned a few minutes later, her cheerful smile back. I smiled a bit as well. I knew she wouldn't completely change, but I think I helped her a little. I saw her shoot me a quick glance and a soft grateful smile.

Monika then called everyone forward and announced her big plans for the festival. I watched the initial reaction before Monika suddenly turned. "Sensei, what do you think?"

Everyone turned to me. "Presenting poems? Well, I think it's a great idea, but what I don't know about is having everyone present. It seems that Tanaka-san and Kobayashi-san are a bit uncomfortable doing it. I'm not sure if pressuring them is the best way to get results."

"Yeah, I figured that. I won't force anyone to speak if they don't want to." Thank God she went off script.

"That's a good idea. That being said…" I turned to Yuri and Natsuki. "I'll say this to the two of you: I know how you feel. I get stage fright too, but this is an opportunity to help out the club that I know you both love so much. Again, no pressure, just think about it."

"O-okay," Yuri said, playing with her hair.

"Hmph, I can do that, at least," Natsuki said.

"I'll do it!" Sayori said.

"Me too," Motoyasu said. "I'll probably have to choose another poem, though."

"It doesn't have to be your own poem," Monika said. "It can be something else. I'm already impressed by the effort you're putting in, Motoyasu."

"Ah, um, thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

Monika smiled. "Great! Well, I was going to suggest that we practice reading a poem today in front of each other, but-"

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," I said, interrupting. "Why don't those of us who want to do just that?"

"Sure!" Sayori said.

"Nakamura-san, as club president, why don't you go first?" I gave her a cheeky smile.

"Sure, I will."

She went up and recited the Hope poem she'd shown me on Tuesday. By the end, the room was silent. Sayori was the first to clap, then I joined in. Soon everyone else was clapping. Blushing, Monika bowed before she stepped aside. As with the game, Yuri went next, then Sayori, then Motoyasu, and last Natsuki. I was surprised when I heard Motoyasu's poem. It was an actual poem, not just a jumble of words. He'd called it **I Dream of Worlds**, and it was about, to my understanding, traveling to worlds of fantasy like isekai. It wasn't all that bad, if I was honest. Simple, but good.

"Sensei, are you going to present?"

I was caught off guard by Monika's presentation. "But…I'm not a student."

"Aww, please?" Sayori looked over at me. "That poem you recited when you were talking to Natsuki and Yuri, have any more like that?"

"That one wasn't my poem, but if you insist, I can share a poem from the same source." I went up and cleared my throat.

_There is a time for everything,  
and a season for every activity under the heavens:_

_a time to be born and a time to die,  
a time to plant and a time to uproot,  
a time to kill and a time to heal,  
a time to tear down and a time to build,  
a time to weep and a time to laugh,  
a time to mourn and a time to dance,  
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,  
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,  
a time to search and a time to give up,  
a time to keep and a time to throw away,  
a time to tear and a time to mend,  
a time to be silent and a time to speak,  
a time to love and a time to hate,  
a time for war and a time for peace._

When I was finished, Monika began applauding vigorously. I guess she enjoyed my performance and how I had acted out every action described. Everyone else joined in. "That was amazing!" Monika said. "Are you an actor?"

"Heh, I did do some acting in high school," I admitted.

"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch," Monika replied.

"Ahaha, I think I have DVD's of the plays back home." _Oh crap, now she's gonna want to watch those_.

"Well, at any rate, thank you," Monika said. Soon Monika announced the closing of club activities for the day. I began packing up everything, but I felt sluggish again. _I really should go to bed earlier tonight_. Monika and I were the last to leave as per usual. She handed me the key. "See you later," she said as she skipped away. _Seriously, does she know what the word __**No**__ means?_ _Ah well, what else are teachers for but to help make students happy_?

I decided I wasn't going to stay late, so I just dropped off the key, told everyone thank you for the hard work and trudged home. My feet felt like they were made of lead. I headed inside, dropped my suitcase, slowly got undressed and crawled into bed. _Just a nap…so tired…_

I was out before I hit the pillow.

* * *

YURI'S POV

I closed the curtains again and lit a few candles. My room began to fill with the smell of jasmine and other scents. I pulled up my sleeves, revealing the love-cuts from the week prior. It had been too long.

Retrieving my knife, I slid the dull side against my face, its sleek cold surface warming to the touch of my cheeks. "Oh, how I've missed you," I said as I held the blade close to me. "I've needed you so much."

My eyes must have been bulging out of my skull, but I didn't care. I needed it…the release…

I brought the knife closer to my wrists…and…

* * *

**Yay! Sayori's beginning to be saved! Enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	6. The Second Girl

"…sei…? Sensei? Oooi, Sensei?"

I felt someone shaking my shoulders. The fog of sleep slowly dissipated and I opened one eye. Monika stood over me, hands on her hips and smiling. She was wearing a dark red skirt over a white blouse. "Wakey wakey, I made dinner for you!"

I slowly sat up, rubbing the bridge of my forehead. "Ugh…what time is it?" I asked.

"Just past five," she said, humming and whistling a tune. I recognized it as Sugar Sugar.

"So tired," I said, wanting nothing more than to just cover myself in the covers and sleep again, the nothingness bliss of dreamless slumber washing over me.

"Oh no you don't," she said, pulling my covers aside. Fortunately, I was decent underneath. "You need to eat something at least. Today must have been stressful for you."

"You don't know the half of it," I said. "Anyway, what's that smell?"

"Pizza!" She smiled. "I figured you were getting tired of just vegetarian cuisine, so I made you a small pizza and one for me too. Yours will be ready in ten or so minutes."

"You didn't have to do that for me," I said, smiling widely. "I'd have gladly eaten anything you made. You didn't need to bother with that."

Her smile faltered a bit and she looked at me intensely. "Sensei, are you feeling alright?"

"Huh? What's wrong? Did I say something weird?" I looked at her confused.

She frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I feel fine," I replied. _There's no sense in her worrying about me right now. The girls have to come first, after all_. "Just exhausted is all."

"Alright…so what happened with you and Sayori?" she asked, sitting across from me and smiling a bit. After I told her what happened, she giggled. "You got to hold Sayori? Sensei, shouldn't I report you?"

"Shouldn't you be at home?" I chuckled.

"Touché, touché," she said with a smile.

"Whatever happened to you talking to Sayori about staying at her place?" I asked.

"Yeah…I don't know how to broach the subject with her. Besides, I don't want to leave you alone."

"Well, thank you." I smiled at her.

"I'll be right back," she said, standing and heading to the kitchen to check on the pizza. I began cleaning off the table, opened my laptop and began typing another poem, one directed at Monika and another at Sayori. I still had the ones directed towards Natsuki and Yuri, and I was going to keep those in reserve. I managed to finish before Monika came back. She had two plates, each with a small pizza. She placed one covered with meat on it in front of me and sat across from me with her veggie pizza. "Itadakimasu," she said.

"Itadakimasu," I repeated before taking a slice and taking a bite. An explosion of flavor erupted in my mouth once again. _I swear, this world's food has to be made of ambrosia or something!_ I quickly began eating, only to find that the crust was cheese stuffed. "This is…delicious is an understatement!"

"I'm glad to hear that," Monika said. She smiled at me happily and I gave her a wide smile back before quickly inhaling the rest of the pizza. I'd never felt so hungry before. When I was finished, I leaned against the bed. "Wow…I am stuffed…"

"Too stuffed to help me out with the posters?" Monika asked.

I sat up again. "Nope, not at all! Just let me clean my hands."

We spent the next hour or so on my laptop drawing out simple outlines and coloring some of the initial parts in with the crayons Sayori had found earlier. I was relieved that Monika seemed to be having so much fun. Finally, the afternoon turned into early evening. We finished the posters around 6:55. After packing them away in her bag, Monika sat against the bed and looked up at me expectantly. _Ah yes, more movies_. I opened my movie folder and searched for one. "You know what? Enough of the movies with relevance. Time to just watch one for fun." I put on _Interstellar_. The moment the movie started, Monika put her head on my shoulder, but this time she also put her arm through mine. I knew I shouldn't let her do that, not only because it would be wrong in my current position, but also it would give her the wrong idea, but I couldn't help it. It felt nice.

"Don't worry. I know you probably don't love me," Monika said, as if reading my thoughts, "and I don't know what I feel about you yet. I know I like you, but love…I'm just not sure yet. Just…let me have these moments please. They're precious to me."

"How could I refuse?" I replied.

In response, she moved even closer to me, our shoulders touching. For a little while I found it hard to concentrate with such a bombshell of a woman that close to me, but soon the movie recaptured my attention. When the movie ended, it was around 9:57. "So, what did you think?"

Monika smiled widely. "I loved it." She yawned. "Man, this is getting a bit repetitive, isn't it?"

"Well, I'm sure this weekend will be different. I have an idea for how the festival preparations can go." I explained my plan. Well, not my plan, but a modified version of a plan someone came up with when making a mod for the game. Basically, we'd all meet up at one place and take care of everything in one day. I'd be there too.

"That's…brilliant! You should tell them tomorrow!"

"Heh, you tell them," I said. "Better to hear it from you."

"You sure?" There she was with her worried look again.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said. "Don't worry."

"Well, okay…" she stood up and stretched. "And you can actually sleep in your own bed. I went home and got something I can sleep in today. I didn't want to keep hogging your bed."

"It's okay if you want to-"

A cool finger touched my lips, effectively silencing me. "You look exhausted, Sensei. I insist." I wasn't going to win this one, I could tell, so I just nodded silently. "Good. I'm going to take a bath. You can take one after me or sleep. Up to you."

"I'll probably sleep," I said, yawning. "Goodnight." I crawled up into bed, sluggishly pulling the covers over myself. Welcome darkness overtook me.

When I woke, Monika was asleep on the floor next to me. She was in a sleeping bag of all things. My small table had been pushed to the side and was leaning against the wall. Looking at the clock, I saw that I had a few minutes, so I lay back down. Despite having slept through the night, I still felt drained. My eyelids wouldn't stay open. I eventually mustered the strength to stand. I looked around in my fridge for something to make. Finally, I decided on just some toast and scrambled eggs.

After Monika woke, she took over for me in the kitchen. I took a brief but welcome shower which brushed some of the mental cobwebs away. I came back out, dressed in another clean pair of working clothes. Monika was already in her school uniform. "Hey Sensei, you're looking better."

"I feel better," I said.

Once again, breakfast was full of questions about my reality, but halfway through she began asking me questions about myself. I felt suddenly uncomfortable talking about myself and, seeming to sense that, she only asked surface level questions, like what my favorite color was, what my favorite holiday was etc. As per the new norm, she left first and I followed a half hour later. The school day seemed to drag by. When my classes were over, I headed to the clubroom. When I got there, I noticed that Sayori was holding a piece of paper and walking back and forth, talking to herself. No one else had arrived yet, to my surprise.

"Suzuki-san?"

"Ah, hey Sensei!" She looked over at me and grinned. "Sorry, I was just practicing how to present my poem."

_I guess my talk really had an impact_. If I recalled correctly, today was the day that she began showing more signs of depression in the game, but she actually looked a lot happier. "Have any idea which poem you're going to present?"

"Ah, not yet, ehehe."

"Well, I know you'll do great. I'm looking forward to watching you all."

At that moment, Natsuki and Yuri both walked in. "I'm telling you, Pride and Prejudice is a good book," Yuri was saying. "There's romance and tension between the characters. It's a masterpiece."

"Alright, fine! Then if I'm gonna read that, you should read Parfait Girls. It's got lots of suspense and romance too. We can compare notes then. Ah, hey everyone!" Natsuki waved. She seemed to be in a good mood.

"Afternoon, guys! That's the second time you two came in together," Sayori said.

"Hehe, well, you see…it's like this…" Yuri blushed a bit.

"I caught her on her way out of the washroom," Natsuki said, "and we just got to talking again."

"Sounds like you two are getting along better," I said with a grin.

Yuki blushed and looked away. Natsuki flashed me a peace sign and grinned widely.

Monika arrived a few minutes later with Motoyasu. He looked over and seemed a bit confused when he saw Sayori cheerfully going over her poem. Monika walked over to me and whispered, "Whatever you did yesterday worked. Her depression stat is down."

"Good, I'm glad," I whispered.

"I'm still going to talk to her, but I promise it won't be what I said before." So saying, she went over and had a few words with Sayori. I saw Sayori's face fall, then perk up, then she shed a few tears as Monika gave her a big hug.

"Okay everyone, why don't we share our poems now?" Monika said after a while.

To my surprise, Yuri stood and timidly approached me before Monika even had a chance to. "Um, Sensei?"

I smiled at her. "Tanaka-san, hey. Are you going to share a poem with me too?"

"I-if it's not too much trouble. I…wanted to show you mine yesterday, but got too scared."

"No trouble at all!" I said cheerfully. "Sit sit!" I indicated one of the chairs nearby. "So, may I see it?"

She gulped nervously and handed me her poem. I was surprised when she handed me her **Raccoon** poem. I knew what it meant, but it still shocked me. It must have shown on my face, because Yuri asked, "I-is something wrong with it?"

"No, sorry, it's just…well look at this." I opened my Yuri-specific poem and showed it to her. I'd simply named it **Nothing**.

_A vast gray landscape.  
__Unchanging, unable to be altered.  
__The wind can't affect it, the rain can't erode it.  
__Nothing can affect me. Save me!_

_If I was able to feel  
__Would the world be as gray and unforgiving?  
__And I wonder as I wander  
__Will nothing change? Save me!_

_Slice! Slash! A canyon suddenly appears before me.  
__What is this? Something new to my gray eyes.  
__Something new, something that brings joy.  
__In the light of the setting sun, the water that flows  
__From the canyon shines a bright red._

_What is this? Do I feel something?  
__This sweet sensation…it flows over me  
__Another canyon appears, the red reflected water  
__Mingles with the water of the first._

_But is this right? Is digging into the soil enough?  
__For even now, the canyons seal, leaving the water to evaporate.  
__Leaving me…with nothing.  
__Save me…_

I looked up at Yuri, wondering what her reaction was. Her eyes were wide again. I wasn't surprised. I didn't make it subtle at all. "Um…S-sensei?"

"What's wrong?" _Whoa, did I trigger a flag with her?_

"Can…I talk to you? Alone?"

"Sure. Let's step outside." I stood and closed my laptop. "Everyone, Tanaka-san and I will be back. She wanted to ask me something about her poem."

"Poem?" Motoyasu asked, eyebrow raised almost suspiciously.

"Yeah. We'll be back soon."

When we were outside the clubroom, Yuri headed towards one of the benches a few feet away from the clubroom and sat. I sat next to her. "So…what's wrong?" I asked. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

She opened her mouth and closed it again. She did this a few times. I just let her gather her thoughts, not rushing her. Finally, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…it's just that…your poem…it…" she closed her eyes, almost as if steeling herself for something. She tugged at her sleeves, fiddling with the buttons a bit. "Sensei…promise me you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

_Wait, is she really…? Oh crap. What do I tell her?_ "Tanaka-san…" Now it was my turn to lose my words. I couldn't just lie and say that I'd not tell anyone about her self-harm. My mind raced, looking for a possible solution that would allow her to trust me enough. I sighed. _Now isn't the right time_. "Tanaka-san," I repeated, "as a teacher, it's my responsibility to watch out for the safety of my students. I will gladly listen to anything you have to tell me, but there are…certain stipulations that require me, as an educator, to report some things to the authorities. That refers to suspected abuse, suicidal thoughts and unusual wounds on the body, like self-harm."

She looked down, and I could have sworn I saw her trembling. I said the one thing she didn't want to hear, I was sure. "I…never mind, Sensei. I'm sorry for troubling you."

"You're never troubling me," I said with a kind smile. "I may be a new club advisor, but I don't want to see my students hurting."

Yuri smiled a bit. "Ah, thank you Sensei." She stood, but it must have been a bit too fast, and her foot caught on something. She stumbled forward, her hands outstretched to break her fall. I was too late to stop her from falling, and she collapsed onto the floor. "Ah!" She winced in pain, holding one of her arms.

"Tanaka-san?!"

The door to the clubroom shot open. Natsuki rushed out. "Yuri!? What happened?!" She glared at me. "Did you do something?"

"No!" Yuri said quickly. "I…tripped is all." She held her arm and winced. The arm of her blazer began to turn red.

"Yuri…?" Monika looked out and saw the scene before her. Her eyes widened in shock. Sayori and Motoyasu peered out behind her.

"You oka-Oh my God! Yuri, you're bleeding!" Sayori shouted.

"H-huh? Oh, I am…" she held her arm and tried to stand, but winced the moment she put weight on her left foot. She collapsed again.

"Looks like you twisted an ankle too," Monika said.

Without even stopping to think, I rushed over and lifted her in my arms princess-style. Carrying someone the exact same height as me was definitely a challenge, but I wouldn't let it show. _No need to let anyone else worry about me for now_. "I'll take her to the nurse's office."

I headed down the hall as fast as I could. Yuri was blushing heavily, still holding her arm. I got to the nurse's office in record time. I explained what happened to the nurse and she let me wait outside. Finally, she stepped outside. "I bandaged up her wounds, but she sprained her ankle. She'll need special bandages and to keep it elevated for a few days while it heals. She shouldn't walk home, though."

"Wait…wounds?"

The nurse, a young half-American half-Japanese woman around five years my senior, sighed and sat next to me. "Her arms…are covered in scars and cuts. Some of those are recent."

"Recent…wait, she…oh God…" I looked at the floor, miming shock. "I didn't know…"

"Well, it's not surprising. You're new here. Even I didn't know, but now that I think back, the signs were there all along. During summer, she insisted on wearing her blazer, during PE, she insists that she wears her winter gear, she's quiet, without many friends… I was glad when I saw she'd joined a club."

I sighed. "Is she…can I talk to her?"

"Yes of course."

"Great. You should call her parents too. They need to know."

"She has her mom only. From what I know, her father died when she was a baby. I was going to call her anyway. She needs to know so she can come pick Tanaka-san up."

The nurse bowed and walked away, pulling out her cell. I walked into the nurse's office. Yuri was lying in one of the beds, an ice pack on her exposed left ankle. Her blazer hung on the nurse's chair, leaving her arms exposed. There were bandages on them. She looked over, saw it was me, and immediately looked away. "Did you call my mom?"

"No…the nurse is going to though…on my suggestion," I added. "I'm sorry, Tanaka-san. It's a part of my job."

She nodded solemnly. I walked over and sat next to her. There was a long silence between us. Finally, she tried to speak. "S-sensei…I…" her voice failed.

"Look over here for a bit." I rolled up my own sleeves.

She looked over and her eyes widened in surprise. "Sensei…what…?"

My arms were both covered in scars from my own self-harm days. They were old and faded, but still visible. There was even a long vertical scar on both my arms. "You aren't the only one who struggles with this," I said as I sat next to her. "Come on, talk to me."

"Y-you understand, Sensei…your poem…"

I sighed. "I know…I'm not a good poet. I didn't think my poem would affect you that much, though." And I was right. I didn't think she'd react like that.

"How…did you stop?" she asked curiously.

I leaned back. "It wasn't easy, and even now, I still feel the urge," I admitted. "For the longest time, I saw the world like I described in my poem. Gray, unyielding, unfeeling. Nothing made me happy. I…" I forced myself not to cry. I was a teacher, after all, and I was supposed to be helping Yuri. "I could only fake it. One day when I was cooking, I accidentally cut my finger. I think…that's when my fascination started. It felt like…the blood from the cuts was a release. I couldn't believe how free it made me feel. I wanted it to last forever, but…wounds heal. I took it too far one night…ended up in the hospital on suicide watch."

Yuri's eyes were full of tears now. "It…feels the same for me," she said. "The world just…feels like stone. It felt…good to do it the first time…" She closed her eyes, clenched her teeth and let the tears come. "I'm disgusting…"

"Now, we both know that's not true," I said. "Would you have called me that if you'd met me during my self-harm days?" She shook her head fervently. "And neither would I. Yuri…" She looked at me, my use of her first name startled her. _Crap! I screwed up! Okay, reign it in for a bit_. "Yuri Tanaka, you're not a disgusting person. You just need to talk to someone and get help. You _will_ be able to get better. I've been where you are, and look at me now. I'm a teacher in Japan, something I've wanted for a while. I have my own place for the first time in my life, I take care of myself and I take joy in things other than cutting. I fill my life with all the fun things I want. Every time I look at these scars, I remember what it was like, seeing my mother and sister crying over me. I realized that I wasn't just hurting myself, but those I cared about."

She was sobbing quietly now. _Damn, this is happening so fast. I didn't prepare this far ahead! _"Sensei…I'm scared. What if I can't change? What if…?" She covered her eyes with her arm, teeth still clenched in pain and sadness.

Reaching over towards one of the end tables, I grabbed a tissue and handed it to her. She took it and dabbed at her eyes. "I know you're scared. But you're not alone. You have your family. You have your friends at the club, and you have me. I know that last part sounds weird, but I know what it's like. The temporary joy that comes from the pain…it feels amazing, but it's not enough. It's never enough."

She lay there and wept. I stayed with her until I heard the door open suddenly. I heard the telltale sound of heels on the floor and a beautiful older woman with purple hair ran in, eyes wide with worry. She almost looked like an older version of Yuri, only with gray streaks in her hair and some tiny wrinkles on her face. She was dressed in a business pants suit. "Yuri?!"

"M-mom?!" Yuri looked up. "What are you-? OOF!"

The woman ran over and hugged Yuri tightly, her own tears flowing. "Oh Yuri…why didn't you tell me…?"

"Mom…" Her tears returned and she gingerly hugged her mother back. I decided now was the proper time to step out. These two needed some alone time. However, there was something I needed to do before I left.

"Excuse me, are you Tanaka-san's mother?"

The older woman looked up at me, wiping tears from her eyes. "Um, yes, sorry. I didn't see you. I'm Tanaka Yuki. Are you the Literature Club's new advisor?"

"Yes. My name's Jon Price. It's nice to meet you." I bowed.

"Thank you for helping my daughter," she said, bowing low. "I'm sorry as well for my daughter putting you in such a position."

"Don't apologize on her behalf. She's a good kid, just a bit confused and scared. As one of her teachers, I'm asking you to not be angry at her."

"I'm not angry at her…" she clenched her fists. "I'm angry at myself…" she whispered.

_What am I, a glorified therapist_? "Why are you angry at yourself?"

She motioned for me to step outside. I followed and as soon as I closed the door, she went and stood in front of the window, looking out wistfully. I stood a few steps away, waiting. I could see that these two were definitely related as this woman had trouble forming her sentences. Eventually she said, "I'm a single mother. I work long hours and hardly ever get to see my daughter. I thought I was doing her a favor by making all this money for us, but…knowing this…it's my fault. I should have made more time…"

"You shouldn't focus on that. You should focus on your daughter. She's scared and very vulnerable. She needs you and her friends, now more than ever. And I'll be there too. Judging from what she's confided in me, I know a bit about where she's at right now. I'll gladly listen to her whenever she needs a helping hand."

"Thank you…Jon-Sensei, I appreciate it. I'm actually going to take her home. I'm just glad tomorrow is an in-service day. We can spend some time together as mother and daughter."

"That's fine, in fact, I think the two of you should spend some time together, but might I make a suggestion?"

"Anything."

I smiled. "Her club is doing something for the festival, and I believe the club president wanted to set aside some time on the weekend to prepare for that. If possible, could she participate in those preparations? I'll be there too and I'll make sure it isn't too strenuous an activity for her."

She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I suppose that's not a bad idea. If she's feeling up to it, I'll bring her to wherever this meeting takes place. Now, I'm gonna talk with her for a bit." She headed into the room. The nurse was gone, having gone to the clubroom to get Yuri's belongings, leaving me alone. I leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. I could hear hushed conversation from within and crying on both sides. Finally, I heard the door open. Yuri was being helped by her mother out of the nurse's office.

"Do you need help getting her to your car?"

Startled, Yuki turned to me. "Well, I…" she looked a bit nervous. _Yep, she's just an older clone of her daughter_. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all."

As I carried Yuri down the halls, I received a bunch of stares from other students and a couple of teachers. _Welp, this is gonna get me in trouble_. We reached the entrance and I carried her out towards a waiting dark green sedan which was still idling in front of the school, Yuri leaned up and whispered, "Thank you, Sensei."

"You're welcome, Yuri."

She blushed. "Don't call me by my first name in public, okay Sensei?"

I gulped. "Sorry, still getting used to calling people by their last names. I'll let the others know you're going home. I hope tomorrow you have fun with your mom. See you at the preparation for the festival, okay?"

She nodded. "Promise me…you won't say anything."

"I won't."

I watched as the car drove off, waving and smiling. Soon I was alone. I went inside and headed back to the club room. Stopping just a few steps short, my eyes widened. I backed away and rushed down the hallway and looked for an empty classroom. Once I found one, I ran in and shut the door. The blinds were closed but I could still see fairly well. Leaning against the door, I slid down into a sitting position. Slowly, I pulled the sleeves of my button-down shirt up and stared at the scars. The urge…it was coming back…now more than ever. My eyes felt like they were bulging out of their sockets. I was panting heavily now.

I grabbed a paper clip from my pocket…and began to undo it…

* * *

**Another girl on the path of salvation, but what's happening to our favorite teacher? Stay tuned to find out!**

**morbiusgreen**


	7. Talk and A Date

MONIKA'S POV

Jon came back a while after he'd carried Yuri to the nurse's office. Watching him run with her in his arms made me feel a bit jealous. When he came back, I was in the closet organizing the bookshelf. I heard the door slowly open. Looking out I saw Jon walking in, looking worn out. He went straight for his stuff, but to my astonishment, he began packing up. I walked over to him. "Sensei? Where's Yuri?"

Startled, he looked over at me. "Ah, um, she sprained an ankle, so her mother came and picked her up."

"Sprained ankle? I sure hope she can help with preparations for the festival," Sayori said. "Monika told us all about her plans. Everyone meeting on Saturday? A good idea!"

"I guess my house was volunteered for it," Motoyasu said.

Jon chuckled, rubbing his wrists. Alarms went off in my head, but I wasn't sure why. "I'd say you should all come to my place, but it's too small. Well, if you want, I can cook you all a meal while you're preparing. There's a dish that my mother makes I think you'd all like."

"Sensei, you can cook?" Sayori asked.

"Oh yeah. Saturday, right?"

"Yep," I said. Jon's tone was different, almost like he was straining to put forth a happy face for everyone. Also, this had been his idea, he couldn't have forgotten already.

"Ah, well, good. Gives me a day to go shopping for ingredients. Chiba-san, mind if I use your kitchen for the cooking?

Motoyasu shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Good! Well, I know this is kind of sudden, but I'm going home a bit early today. I've got a lot of work to do if I want to keep my Saturday free." Jon finished packing his things humming a tune I didn't recognize.

Something was wrong, I could tell. He wasn't quite acting like himself. "Sensei?"

"I'll see you all on Saturday." He gave us all a smile before rushing out.

"Does Price-Sensei seem…stressed to you?" Motoyasu said.

"Well, he is just starting a new job," Sayori said. "Wouldn't that stress anyone else out?"

"I mean, I guess so," Motoyasu said.

_That might be it, but I don't know…something else is happening…Something's wrong… something is very wrong!_

"I think now is a good time to end club activities," I said.

"So soon?" Motoyasu asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I have a lot to do to prepare for the festival," I said as I began to pack my bag, trying not to show my urgency. "You guys can head on home."

"Alright, see you tomorrow Monika!" Sayori said. She and Motoyasu packed their stuff away before leaving. Natsuki followed not soon after. The moment they left, I pulled up a map of the city and searched for Jon. _There! Running back home_. _Wait, his icon…what the hell's wrong with his icon?!_

I opened my eyes again, eyes wide. _God, Ra, Zeus, anyone listening, please don't let me be too late!_ I rushed out of the classroom…

* * *

MY POV

_God, I'm trash…I'm scum…I should just die already…_ Those were the words I kept on repeating to myself as I headed home. I couldn't get there fast enough. The moment I stepped inside I was already removing my jacket and rolled up sleeve on my arm. The new cuts were pathetically shallow. "Let's fix that!" I said, smiling gleefully.

I rummaged through my kitchen drawers, only to find no sharp knives. _What?! Where are they!? No, I need this!_ The world spun around me, the Gray was returning in sudden force. _I need to push it away!_

Finding nothing, I searched for anything else that was sharp. I managed to find a boxcutter in one of my drawers. _Thank God!_

I sat against my bed and looked longingly at my scarred arm, boxcutter in hand, the blade shining welcomingly in the mid-afternoon sunlight. I savored the moment, the intensity of the anticipation building within me with each passing moment as I brought the blade closer. "Almost there…" I licked my lips, panting heavily.

"JON NO!" A voice broke through my reverie. I looked up to see Monika standing a few feet from me. Her face turned pale when she saw me. She rushed me, kicking the blade away before pinning me down. I tried to struggle, but she was impossibly strong. "Stop this! This isn't like you!"

"You barely know me! How would you know anything about what I'm like?!" I demanded, adrenaline flowing through me as I pushed back against her. "The Gray! I need to push it away!"

"Jon…please stop…" Her eyes focused on mine intently.

Something about her tone stopped me from struggling. I looked into her misty eyes. "Monika…?"

The next thing I knew, I was being hoisted to a sitting position and forced to face her. Her eyes were ablaze with worry and anger. "Jon, talk to me! What's wrong?"

The invasive self-harming thoughts seemed to recede from my mind. "I…don't know. I just…" I told her everything about what happened, from me revealing my past cutting habits to Yuri to the attempted harm I did to myself in an empty classroom, to the overwhelming urge to cut deeper. "Then you showed up and…you know the rest…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she screamed, grabbing my lapels and pulling me close. I could hear the frustration in her voice, the terror.

"I…don't know." I was terrified now too. "I thought that I put that part of my past behind me, but something happened. Something I can't explain. Can you…check?"

She must have known what I meant because she went still for a bit, then gasped. "Your code…it's been altered. Your depression and self-harming traits have tripled!"

"What? How?!"

She went still again, presumably to try and check deeper. "Oh no…I think I know what happened." She released me, still sitting on my lap. She was looking at me intensely now. "Remember when I said Sayori's depression decreased? Well, Yuri's own self-harm trait has decreased as well, but yours has increased. There was a transfer. You got the amped up traits. You still are."

"A transfer?! But why didn't my antivirus block it?"

"It's not a virus, it's a character trait," Monika explained. "I guess your employers didn't see this as a possibility."

"I guess not."

"Jon…just rest. I'll make dinner for us." With that, she rushed out, presumably to do some shopping.

I tried to stand, but the adrenaline was running off and my legs felt like jelly. I stumbled back, tripping and falling onto my bed. My head hit the wall hard. "Ow, that hurt like a mother-" I reached back and held my head. I felt a bump forming. "Wonder if I got some of Sayori's clumsiness," I said with a self-deprecating chuckle, but that quickly dissipated. _Damn, I screwed up. How do I fix this?!_ I sat on my bed against the wall and felt tears come to my eyes. For the first time since I'd arrived, I really truly cried. The tears kept pouring from my eyes, they just wouldn't stop. My sobbing turned into anguished screaming. I hit my pillow over and over again as if to punch these overwhelming feelings out of my body. It hurt so much.

After what felt like an eternity, a pair of cool hands cupped my cheek. I looked up and saw Monika looking at me. She wore a soft smile as she enclosed her arms around my neck, holding me in a comforting embrace. "Keep fighting it…"

Acting on instinct, I wrapped my arms around Monika and sobbed anew. I felt ashamed, humiliated, torn open for all to see. "I can't…"

"Yes you can…or else you're not sapient."

That did it. My head snapped back and I gasped. Color seeped back into the world. The once gray eyes of the girl holding me close returned to their normal sparkling emerald hue. "Monika, I–"

She slapped me hard. "Jon, don't you _dare_ scare me like that _again_!" She looked angry, but that soon vanished as tears formed in her own eyes. She lay her head on my chest, arms around me again. "Please…"

"I won't, I promise." I put one hand on her head and the other around her waist, holding her close.

"Tomorrow, you and I are doing something fun together," she stated. "No arguments!"

"You won't hear any from me," I said softly.

"Good." She began to cry again, and so did I. For a while that's all we did, letting our emotions flow freely. She finally crawled off of me, smiling through her tears. "Jon…fight on."

I nodded and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "Heh, Jon eh? Getting a bit too informal, are we?"

"Says the guy calling me Monika in private," she replied, giggling through her tears.

"Touché, touché."

She smiled at me. "I'm going to make dinner, alright?" She gave me another quick hug before heading into my kitchen.

I headed to my laptop and opened a new document. There, I began writing again. When Monika announced that dinner was ready, I closed the document. Monika set two plates down and sat beside me this time. She's made okonomiyaki, some of the tastiest I'd ever had. As we ate, she asked "What movie should we watch tonight?"

"Mmm…how about an anime this time? A show."

"An anime, huh? Natsuki would have a field day if she found out I did that."

I chuckled and went through my list of shows. I put on _Interview with Monster Girls_. When we both were done eating, she surprised me by sitting in my lap, grabbing my arms and wrapping them around her, leaning her head against my chest. _Seriously, I can't tell if she's just desperate for physical sensations or starting to get into me. And what do I feel for her? Sure, she's a cute girl with a lot going for her, but do I love her?_ I let her do so as we continued watching episode after episode. When we finished, it was around 9:21. Monika reached over and closed the laptop. I moved to disentangle myself from her, but she gripped my hands even tighter. "Monika?"

"Jon, we need to talk."

_Oh man…really? Now of all times? Well, I'm sure I had something like this coming._ "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"These…" she rolled up my sleeves and caressed my scarred arms. "Why…?"

"Why did I do it?" She nodded. "Well…it helped me feel alive. It's…I've had depression for a lot of my life. You know how Sayori calls it rainclouds? I call it the Gray. It was like I couldn't see color for the longest time. I couldn't feel anything. I faked all my emotions because I thought that was what people wanted from me. I felt truly happy only when I did this." I motioned to my arms. "I could see the red, it was…so beautiful, so mesmerizing…" I felt the urge returning suddenly, but with an effort I pushed it back down.

"I see…I wish you'd have told me about it. Don't you trust me?"

"Y-yes of course!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

I sighed. "I was embarrassed and ashamed of it…I'm sorry."

"You'd better be sorry," she said, sounding almost disappointed. My heart sank at her tone. I felt terrible for making her worry so much about me, and even worse that she was worrying at all. _She_ was supposed to be the one _I_ was helping, not the other way around. She suddenly turned around and wrapped her arms around me. "You need to be strong, Jon. I know your negative personality traits are spiking like crazy, but please be strong. You'll have me with you too. I'll help you."

"Thank you."

"Now then, you should try and get some sleep. Since we don't have school tomorrow, I'll let you sleep a bit more to catch up, but we're still leaving at ten."

"Where?" I asked.

"Where else? Exploring the town! I've not been around it much."

I chuckled. "That does sound fun." I crawled into bed and without so much as a by-your-leave Monika crawled in next to me. "Monika, this is crossing a line." I tried to use a stern voice, but it came out as a slight sleepy slur.

"You don't have a choice in this. I'm too worried about you to leave you alone," she said. "You're the vulnerable one now…"

I sighed. "Your fault if I try anything," I said teasingly.

"I know you won't try anything, you're that kind of man," she said. _Damn that hurt_. "I know what you're thinking, but I didn't mean anything negative. You're too much of a gentleman. Besides, I'm being a bit selfish too. I want to know what it's like to sleep in the same bed as a guy."

I pulled the covers over the two of us. "I'm not as kind as you think I am."

She rolled over to face me, reaching out and taking my hand. "Yes you are. You're just having a harder time seeing it right now. Now close your eyes and sleep. You need it right now."

Having nothing further to argue, I closed my eyes, falling asleep with my hand intertwined in Monika's own. That was how I woke the next morning. She was still facing me, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. She'd moved closer to me in the night, or maybe I had, I couldn't be sure. I remained there, not wanting to get up, but now for a different reason.

Up until that moment, I'd never shared a bed with a woman before. I felt comfortable but nervous at the same time. Despite her loose pajamas, I couldn't help but stare at her perfect curvaceous body. I immediately felt guilty. After all, she was technically a student and I was ten years her senior. She looked so sweet…so vulnerable. I resisted the urge to brush aside her loose hair from her face. I closed my eyes again, cheeks hot.

Despite the slight distance between us, or maybe because I was now more conscious of it, I felt the heat radiating from her body. She smelled of nature, reminding me of the few times my mother had taken me and my sister on hikes during the summer. Her breathing was serene and peaceful. I hoped that I hadn't kept her up as I'd been told in the past that I snore. Her hand felt soft and cool in my own and held mine tightly, but not too tightly.

I heard and felt her stirring beside me. Opening one eye I found her staring at me with that hauntingly beautiful stare. She smiled. "Good morning. Sleep well?"

I smiled back. "Yeah, I did actually."

She gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You looked like you were sleeping well."

"I hope I didn't snore."

She giggled. "No, you didn't." She cupped my cheek in her other hand. Reflexively I put my hand over hers. "You know blue is my favorite color, right?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What brought that on?"

"Your eyes. I never really noticed how blue they were. It's like a deep sea blue."

I chuckled. "What a coincidence, my favorite color is green."

She blushed. "Well, I should make breakfast for us." She released my hand and sat up, stretching. I sat up a few moments later and, after grabbing some outdoor clothes, went to take a shower. I came out to the smell of omurice. "Are you really shopping for this, or are you just summoning the ingredients out of thin air?"

She laughed. "I could do that, but I really wanted to know what shopping was like."

"Well, I do need to get some ingredients for tomorrow anyway," I said. "I'll show you how I shop."

"I can't wait!"

Our day together went by faster than I realized. First, we flipped a coin and headed towards the city center. We stopped at a Shinto-esque shrine and a Buddhist temple. She apparently had never seen one. I had, and the design was very similar but with elements of western design within. "It's almost as if this isn't a simulation but a parallel universe to my own," I mused as I examined the architecture.

"Well, wasn't DDLC made in America?" Monika asked. She wore a cute blue summer dress and a straw hat over her loose hair. She'd been keeping it loose ever since I'd mentioned she'd looked cuter without the ponytail.

"It was. Even if this city's new location is in Japan, it's as if America and Japan had a baby named Midokita."

She giggled. "I hope one day I'll be able to see the real Japan."

"When that day comes, I'll take you all there. It's an amazing country."

We kept on exploring, eventually coming to a small theme park. I paid for the tickets and we went on every ride Monika saw, much to my poor stomach's despair. Thankfully I didn't lose my breakfast. We went to this world's version of McDonald's. She ordered one of the salads and I got myself their signature burger. "Seriously, one of the things I'm gonna miss when we all escape is how amazing this food is compared to my world," I said.

"Is it really that good?" Monika asked.

"Take it from someone from reality, yes. I feel almost embarrassed about our own food now."

She giggled. "I'm sure it's fine. Anyway, you said you were going to shop for some ingredients."

"Yes. I was going to make stew, hopefully enough to make leftovers so Natsuki could take some home. She's my next target."

"Leaving me for last?" Monika said teasingly, but I could hear the sadness in her tone.

I shook my head. "No, you're the first. You actually reached out to me, whether you knew it or not. You were always going to be my first. The first one I helped. The one I will continue to help."

She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you, Jon. That means the world to me."

After lunch, we headed back out. We found city hall and even spent a few hours in a museum which explained the fictional history of this city. The detail put in was extraordinary. Monika was even surprised at the level of detail and soaked up every detail she could. Eventually we left, albeit reluctantly. It was getting late, so the two of us went to the local supermarket where I grabbed what I needed. When Monika saw me get vegetarian hot dogs, she smiled. "Thanks, Jon. But what are you making with all this?"

"Hi…mi…tsu," I chuckled, saying the word secret in Japanese. "I promise, though, it'll taste amazing if this world is any indicator."

The day over, we headed back to my apartment, my arms laden with reusable bags full of groceries. I put them away as Monika went to take a bath. I then went back and was working on my novel when I felt two arms wrap around me from behind as well as a pair of not-so-small breasts pressing against my back. _So that's what that feels like? Damn, that feels amazing._ I tilted my head up. "Have a good bath?"

"Yup, I did. Whatcha working on?"

"My novel." I saved and closed it.

"Awww, you don't want to share it?"

"Not yet. It's not finished. So, any movie you want to watch tonight? Or actually, would you like me to read something instead? We haven't done anything literature related really."

She smiled. "I'd like that a lot."

I spent the remainder of the evening reading the first installment of _The Lord of the Rings_. She sat next to me, reading over my shoulder with rapt attention. When 9:00 rolled around, I found a stopping place and closed the book. Monika looked a little disappointed, but she thanked me for reading to her. "Maybe we should read like this in the clubroom," she said.

"I don't see why not. Now come on, tomorrow we continue the fight." Despite what was happening to my parameters, I couldn't stop now. I had to help Natsuki as well. I would help her. All of them would be saved.

* * *

NATSUKI'S POV

I heard the door open from downstairs. I quickly closed my manga and hid it in my secret binder which I kept hidden underneath my bed. I heard a loud thump as dad dropped his suitcase on the floor. "Natsukiiiiii!" He sounded drunk again. I shuddered.

"Upstairs, Dad!" I called back, knowing better than to ignore him.

"Get your ass downstairs, now!"

I quickly obeyed. _Damn, he's not in a good mood_. "What is it, Dad?"

"Where's dinner?!"

I gulped. "I-I ordered pizza ten minutes ago."

"How much did that cost?" he growled.

"I-I used my money, Dad-"

"HOW MUCH!?"

"One th-thousand Yen…"

He glowered at me. "Do you think I'm made of money, you little shit?!"

"But Dad, I paid for it with my allowance," I said, desperate to get him in a better mood.

He clenched his fist, then to my great relief released it. "Fine…supreme pizza, right?"

"Yes Dad."

He sat back against his chair, bottle in hand. As he was loosening his tie, he noticed that I was still standing there. "What is it?" he said.

"Um, I'm going out tomorrow. I need to help my club with preparations for the festival."

He looked like he was about to say something to the contrary, but sighed. "Fine fine, just be back at the normal time."

I nodded and went into the kitchen to prepare plates for dinner. I was looking forward to spending time with everyone else tomorrow. And maybe I could show Sensei my poem…

* * *

**It might be a little while before the next chapter. I'll do my best!**

**morbiusgreen**


	8. Last Girl & Preparations

On Saturday, after a quick breakfast of rice, eggs and miso soup, Monika and I snuck out and headed towards Motoyasu's house. As we headed towards a residential district, Monika looked more and more excited. When we got there, I wasn't surprised when Sayori answered the door. She gave us her warm smile. I could tell it was a bit more genuine than before, but I couldn't let my guard down yet. "Sensei? You came with Monika?"

"I ran into her on the way here," I said. I held up the bags of groceries. "I brought all the fixings for a large lunch today."

I saw her mouth begin to drool excitedly. "Come in!"

Motoyasu stuck his head out from down the hallway. "Hey there Price-Sensei, Nakamura-san. I'm just setting up a place for Tanaka-san to paint the banner. You can put the ingredients on the counter for now."

I removed my shoes and stepped inside. Seeing the inside of the MC's house was quite an experience. He had a large house, that I could easily tell from the backdrops in the game, but seeing it in real life was amazing. "Wow, this is an impressive house," I said as I put the ingredients on the counter. "Chiba-san, what do your parents do for a living? They're obviously well off."

"They travel a lot for a large tech firm," he said as he headed into the kitchen. "What did you bring?"

"Ingredients for lunch," I said. "Do you have a large pan?"

He brought out a perfect sized pan for my purposes. "I'll try not to get into Kobayashi-san's way while she's baking."

"I'll be fine, Sensei," I heard Natsuki say from behind me. "What are you making, anyway?"

"A very filling lunch," I grinned. After I asked Motoyasu for the tools I would need, I began my preparations. Yuri arrived a few minutes later accompanied by her mother. I wasn't surprised when she insisted that she stay. I was glad of the more adult company. She helped Yuri with the painting for a bit before coming to me. "Hello, Tanaka-san," I said.

"You can call me Yuki," she said with a smile.

"How was your mother-daughter time yesterday?" I asked softly. Across the kitchen, I heard Natsuki breaking eggs into a bowl.

"It went well enough," she said. "We spent a lot of time talking about her…problem. I tried to apologize for it, but she said it wasn't my fault."

"And it isn't," I reassured her. "She's just a scared kid right now. I'm glad to hear that you talked. What else did you do?"

"We spent some time just reading together. Heh, she used to lie on my lap and read while I read too. After that, I made her favorite dinner."

"It sounds like you two had a good time."

"We did, although she wasn't too happy that I confiscated her knife collection."

"Don't worry. She probably still thinks of them as a crutch. It will pass with time and healing." I smiled at her.

She smiled back. "I'm glad that you're her club's new advisor. I know she's in good hands."

More pressure. Geez. "I'll do my best."

She bowed and went back to help her daughter. Monika and Sayori were busy with the pamphlets, Natsuki was still mixing the batter and Yuri and her mother were busily painting. Motoyasu just jumped back and forth, helping wherever he could. While I prepared the ingredients, I put one some music. As an experiment, I put on the game's own soundtrack, but only the happy songs. I saw Monika give me a sideways glance, roll her eyes and giggle a bit. When we got to her song, however, she sat up and listened. Everyone seemed to stop and listen. The words were different and were sung in a duet with a man and a woman, me and my sister. We'd rewritten the words to this:

_Every day, I fight towards a future where I can rescue you  
With my hands, I'll compose a brand-new poem for all of you  
The ink flows 'cross the crisp and white pages  
A brand-new choice, write my way into their hearts  
In this closed world of limited choices  
I'll write the words meant to find that special day  
Those precious words, just to find…that special day._

_Can I find a way to save them, or will I go astray?  
If I can't, I'll make every lasting day fun for them anyway.  
When the days pass into a dark tunnel  
I'll light a torch, lead them to reality  
And if this world won't write them an ending,  
What will it take just for us to have it all?_

_With my pen, I will write kinder words for those who are dear to me.  
I'll protect all of them and eventually I will set them free.  
The ink flows 'cross the crisp and white pages  
I'll fight the world, just to find reality.  
Here I stand, with the sound of my heartbeat.  
We call it love back in my reality  
And in my reality when I finally learn to love you…  
I'll set us free._

While I was changing the music to another playlist, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a command prompt with a message. **Thank you, Jon. That means so much more to me than you'll ever know. You and your sister have beautiful singing voices too**.

Having just last night learned how to send private messages back and forth, I smiled and replied **We meant every word of it.**

"I didn't know you could sing, Sensei," Natsuki said. "Who was the girl? Your ex-girlfriend?"

"Why assume she's an ex?" I asked curiously.

"If you had one, wouldn't she be here?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Well, not sure how that logic follows, but no, she isn't my girlfriend, she's my younger sister."

"I see." She retreated into silence while she whisked the cupcake mix while I continued cutting up the ingredients. "Hey, um…Sensei?"

I turned to her. "What is it, Kobayashi-san?"

She thrust a poem into my face. I nearly fell back in surprise. "Could…you read this? Monika told me that you give good advice on poems."

_She did, huh? Interesting_. "Sure, let me clean my hands first." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Monika give me a meaning glance. She handed me her Amy Likes Spiders poem. I read it once or twice, then looked down at her. She was, to my surprise, looking up expectantly. "I like your style," I began. "Very simple and to the point. But I feel like there's a couple of hidden meanings beneath. The metaphor of spiders could mean anything. And Amy could represent anyone. Am I wrong?"

She looked down. "Monika said you'd be perceptive. Yes…"

"Is it about Yuri? Or something else?"

Natsuki stiffened a bit. My 'perception' must have thrown her off. I sat at the kitchen table and motioned for her to take a seat. "It's about Yuri, yeah…"

"I already know about it," I said softly. "That's why her mom is here. And Yuri isn't disgusting. She's just in pain. She's scared."

Natsuki looked away. "It's…I mean…damn it…I don't like seeing her like that. It scares me."

"Tell me something, am I disgusting?"

"Sensei?"

Without waiting for her to reply, I pulled up some of my shirt, showing my scars. She stared at them in horror. "I've been where she's been, but she can get better, I promise. Her mom is going to help her, I'm going to help her, and you can help her too."

"How?" Even though I'd rolled my sleeves back up, she was still staring at my arm.

"By being there for her. She needs her friends now more than ever. Just be a friend. It'll help." I smiled. "And since you were kind enough to show me a poem, I'll show you one I wrote." I'd titled my Natsuki centered one **Mr. Man**.

_Mr. Man has two faces, one kind, one mean.  
Mr. Man takes me to the mall, but never lets me pick my clothes.  
Mr. Man is warm outside but cold inside.  
Mr. Man won't let me go to my friend's house, but has parties at home.  
Mr. Man says he's my friend, but he scowls at me when no one's looking.  
Mr. Man wants to have it all, but gives me nothing.  
I'm scared of Mr. Man._

I'd made mine simple and to the point. As I'd come to expect, Natsuki's eyes were wide. She read it once, twice, three times. I saw her hands trembling. She looked up at me. The tears were there, begging to be let out. She quickly stood and said, "Sensei. Outside. Now." Without explanation, she headed to the front door. I followed quickly. Once the door was closed, she pushed me against it. "How…how did you know?!" The tears were more prominent now.

"About what?"

She grabbed my hoodie and pulled me close to her face. Despite her tears, she had an angry look on her face. "Don't play dumb with me! This isn't the poem you wrote and showed the rest. I'm not as dumb as that!"

Of all the people, I was only a little surprised to see that Natsuki saw through my plan. I pulled out my poem again. "Kobayashi-san, Mr. Man is a metaphor for my father. He isn't a nice man. He held my mom, sister and me to impossible standards and when we failed to meet them, he…punished us." Which was the truth. For the first ten years of my life, I'd been in the same high rise apartment as that man before my Mom was strong enough to run away from him with the two of us kids. It was that life that had been a major contributor to my and my sister's depression.

She clenched her teeth and lifted her fist. I braced for impact, but all I felt was a soft tap on my chest. She kept on 'hitting' me like that. "Sensei…" She pulled herself closer, hiding her face in my chest. _Seriously, what is with these girls and opening up so easily?_ I put a hand on her head and patted it tenderly.

"I take it you have problems at home?" I asked.

"N-no!" she said almost defensively, or was it reflexively.

"Natsuki…" Startled at my use of her first name, she looked up, tears streaming down her face in torrents now. "You know you can always talk to me." I sat on the porch and placed her next to me. "Now come on. You obviously want to tell me something."

She sat next to me and sniffed. Haltingly, she told me about her dad, how he was once a decent guy, but after the death of her mother, he'd plunged himself into his work, which caused him to be stressed, and then he started drinking. I figured that he had begun to physically and emotionally abuse her, but she hesitated when she began to describe a time when he'd done something new. I felt an unnatural fury and fear arise in me. Natsuki's father had…done something like that?! I wanted nothing more then to go to Natsuki's house and kill that sick son of a bitch at that moment.

A command prompt message appeared. **Jon, there's another transfer happening! You're getting Natsuki's negative traits! FIGHT IT!**

I took a deep breath and continued to listen as patiently as I could. I tried not to see red as Natsuki poured her troubles out, between soft hiccups and crying. Finally, it seemed as if she'd said all she was comfortable saying. "I'm sorry, Sensei, I didn't mean to talk so much."

I reached over and pulled her into a tight hug. Surprised, she stiffened, but eventually she haltingly reciprocated. "No, don't apologize. It's okay Kobayashi-san. I'm glad you told me. I could tell you were hurting, and I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to share this with me." She was trembling in my arms. She felt extremely fragile and I was careful not to hold her too much. "If you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Okay…thank you…Jon-Sensei."

After a few more minutes of me comforting her I stood and helped her to her feet. "You should get back inside, though. Your cupcakes are waiting."

"Ah crap!" She sped inside. I followed and continued to work on the meal for everyone. Soon the kitchen was a mix of sweet and salty smells. Natsuki would bake her cupcakes and all the while she put the next batch in their trays, waiting. Meanwhile, I brought the lunch to a boil then let it simmer. By this time Motoyasu had been sent out to purchase a few things that the club needed. While that was happening, I decided to go check on everyone. When I went to look in on Sayori and Monika, Sayori was busily organizing the pages while Monika was busily creating pages in Photoshop on the spare laptop I'd lent her.

I went over to check on Sayori first. "Hey, how's your work going?" I asked, bottling my anger for the time being and putting on a happy face. _I'm remembering how easy this was_.

"Ah Sensei," Sayori looked up at me with a smile. Again, it seemed more genuine but with a twinge of sadness still in it. "Monika and I are almost done."

"Can I take a look?" She handed me one of the nearly completed pamphlets and I looked it over. Monika's skill with Photoshop was indeed impressive. "You both are doing a great job."

"It's all Monika's skills, I'm just a glorified librarian."

_Not sure that's the right word_. "Don't say that," Monika said before I had a chance to interject. "Sayori, you're job is extremely relevant. Don't doubt yourself. Remember our talk. You're important to the club…and to me. You're my friend."

Sayori smiled, and I could almost feel the self deprecation behind it. "I wish I could believe that…"

"Then listen to this," I said. "If the two of us can believe in you, I'm sure that others will. You're important to the club, and important in general. No one is ever useless."

Monika scooted over and hugged Sayori suddenly. "We all care for you."

Sayori wiped her eyes and she smiled through her misty eyes. "I-I'll do my best."

"That's the spirit," I said, giving her thumbs up. I went over next to check on Monika.

"You okay?" she whispered as I sat down at the table next to her.

"None of your business," I snapped, my control slipping a bit. When she recoiled, I took a deep breath. "I'll be okay. I'm sorry, I'm just really pissed right now at Natsuki's father…I've never felt this pissed before."

"Natsuki's negative traits are transferring to you," Monika said, a tone of fear in her voice. "She's doing better now that she's talked to you, but her fear and inability to show her feelings are being transferred to you. With all the negative traits, I'm surprised you're holding out this long. Keep fighting, you're stronger than you know."

_Great, I'm turning into a depressed, self-destructive tsundere_. "I understand." I stood. "I'm gonna pick up a pack of smokes."

Monika looked at me wide eyed. "You smoke?"

"Nope."

She grabbed my wrist. "No cigarettes. You can't use things like that as a crutch."

I clenched my teeth, but knew she was right. _Well, time to put on my happy face again_. I stood and went back to check on my meal. It wasn't ready yet so I decided to check on Yuri and her mother. When I arrived, Yuri was alone, carefully painting. She saw me and smiled. "H-hello Sensei."

"Hey there Tanaka-san. Where's your mother?"

"Washroom," the shy bookworm said. She looked down at her work. "What do you think?"

I took a look. Her work was amazing. She had the steady hands of a surgeon, I guessed. "This will look great when it's complete. It looks amazing now."

She smiled. "Thanks Sensei."

I knelt beside her, startling her. "How are you doing today, better I hope? Your mom told me the two of you had fun yesterday."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, we talked a lot and then we read together."

"And the cuts?"

She gingerly rolled up her sleeves, showing me bandages. "They itch, but not often. Sensei, it's very hard."

"I know it is, believe me. Just keep on fighting it, you'll be fine." I gave her a smile. "Keep up the good work. Lunch is almost ready."

"I can smell it from here. What is it?"

"A surprise. I promise it will be delicious." I winked and headed out to check back on Natsuki.

As I left the room I saw Yuki leaning against the wall next to the door. "Jon-Sensei, thank you. I wish I had a teacher like you when I was in school."

"Like I said, I've been where she's been. I'll do my very best to help her. If there's anything you need me to do, don't hesitate to tell me."

She nodded. "I will. Thank you, Jon-Sensei."

"No problem, Tanaka-san."

She pushed her hair back behind her ear and smiled. "You can call me Yuki." She bowed went back in to help her daughter before I could answer. _Did I just…trigger a flag with Yuri's mother?!_

I went back to the kitchen. Natsuki was now busily whipping up the cupcake frosting. Next to the bowl there were a few bottles of food coloring. "Almost done?"

She looked over at me and nodded, giving me a wide smile. "Yep!"

Not even asking for her permission, I stuck my finger into the soft creamy batch of frosting and took a taste. Flavor exploded into my mouth, sweet, soft, almost cloudlike in its brilliance and taste. "Yummy!"

"H-Hey!" Natsuki looked pissed, but it was a tsundere type of pissed. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist," I chuckled. "It really is delicious. You could be a professional baker with skills like this."

"You…think so?" It obviously hadn't occurred to her.

"I do. You have a talent here."

She looked away, face slightly red. "…Sensei you dummy…" However, I was pleased to catch her small smile, if not obvious on her mouth then in her eyes.

While the lunch I made kept on simmering, I helped Natsuki with her baking, following her instructions to the letter. Finally there were almost five full batches finished and cooling. When I checked the stew, I was relieved when I saw that it was ready. I clapped loudly and called out, "Okay everyone, I think it's time to take a lunch break." I held my hand up, imitating one of Monika's sprites.

"You stole my catchphrase!" Monika said in a fake whine as she closed the laptop.

"I knew it!" Natsuki snickered as she headed towards the kitchen table. As everyone filtered into the kitchen, Motoyasu returned carrying a few bags. He put them down and joined us. I began serving up the stew. "Vegetarian hot dog stew, and before you say anything don't knock it till you try it."

As they began to eat, I saw surprise flash over everyone's faces. Motoyasu was the first to speak. "This is…I'm not sure how to describe it. It's not disgusting. I love the flavor. It's unlike anything I've ever tasted before." Everyone agreed with that.

"I'd like to try making this sometime," Natsuki said.

"I'll give you the recipe sometime," I said.

"Really? Sweet!" She grinned widely at me. I smiled back.

A console window appeared in the corner of my eye. **This is amazing. You've no idea how much I want to hug you for sharing this with me-no, with us.**

**You're welcome**.

After we ate there was plenty of leftovers. I packed the rest away in Tupperware and gave many of them to Natsuki. She was nearly beside herself with happy tears. I decided then and there that I would start to make Natsuki some form of lunch every school day. Again, I was taking some of my ideas from DDLC mods, but I figured that the creators would forgive me my plagiarism.

"So how far along is everyone with the preparations?" I asked.

"My cupcakes need to cool before I put the frosting on," Natsuki said, "but after that they should be done."

"Where should they be kept?" I asked.

"I can keep them here," Motoyasu said.

"Ah, thank you Chiba-san. And how about you, Tanaka-san? How are you and your mother doing?"

"We're almost done, but I don't know if it'll be finished today," Yuri said. "I want to paint more after it dries."

"Well, why don't you finish it the day of the festival?" Monika suggested. "That way it has plenty of time to dry."

"I can help carry everything!" Sayori said.

"You sure, Sayori?" Motoyasu asked.

"Yep!" Her grin was infectious.

"I don't mind stopping by on Monday and helping out too," I said.

"No need," Motoyasu said quickly.

"Um, okay," I said, but I knew I had to be at the house on that Monday, as that was the day in the game where Sayori had hung herself. I didn't think she was out of the woods yet, and if my mysterious employers were right, someone or something was trying to make sure the game went according to the original script. I asked Monika through a command prompt text when Sayori hung herself in the game script.

**Early Monday morning after crying all night. It was around 4:49 AM.**

_Great, I'll have to be to her house by then just to be on the safe side. _

After lunch, I packed away around seven Tupperware containers of the soup, placing three in a reusable bag for Natsuki and giving one to everyone else. It was around three in the afternoon when everyone dispersed. Monika headed out first, presumably to my place. _Seriously, does that girl ever go home_? Yuri and Natsuki left together with Yuki who was going to treat the two to ice cream. I left after helping clean up the kitchen. I was the last to leave, followed a few seconds later by Sayori. I looked back at her as she headed to her house. The pep in her step was gone. Don't worry, Sayori…I'll save you, I'll save all of you!

* * *

Unknown POV

_Damn him, he's ruining everything! That man is interfering with everything! I can't even get into his program file! Damn that encryption…_

**Okay, calm down there. Not all is lost yet. We can still do this. We can still make everything right!**

_But…he lowered their negative stats!_

**Only for a time, my friend. Only for a time. I still have access to it. Don't worry, we can and will fix this man once and for all. You know who I must focus on first, right?**

_I do. Just get it over with. _

**I can see it_…WE can see the ending!_**

* * *

**Enjoy this chapter to your heart's content!**

**morbiusgreen**


	9. Confessions

I took the scenic route home, taking the time to think about the day's events. I'd gotten each of the girls to open up to me, but now the problem was getting through the next couple of days without leaving Sayori hanging. _Ugh, I'm going to Hell for that, aren't I?_ I came back home at around 6:30 or so. When I stepped into my house I saw Monika standing in the living room, wearing one of my bathrobes. Her hair was wet as well. "Um, what are you wearing underneath that?" I asked, almost afraid to know the answer, but also eager to see.

She obviously noticed my discomfort because she began playing with her hair, tugging almost suggestively at the rope. She giggled as the robe dropped, revealing her PJs. I sighed in relief, but at the same time was a bit disappointed. "Naughty boy," she giggled before running over and tackling me. I fell back onto my ass, but Monika didn't let go. "You've no idea how much I've wanted to hug you since I heard the song and tasted the soup you made."

I hugged her back, patting her head gently. "I'm glad you enjoyed them."

She snuggled into me, arms around my waist. "Jon…I…I'm glad you're here. I know I said it already, but I am truly grateful you're here. It means more to me than you could ever know."

I blushed, but at the same time felt like her words were just her way of trying to cheer me up. I forced myself to remember that my mind was being messed with and not to overthink it. "Th-thank you, Monika."

She held me there for a few minutes before she said "How are you doing right now? I expected you home a while ago."

"What are you, my wife?" I teased, flicking her forehead gently. "I just needed a walk alone to think."

She giggled and stood, offering me her hand. I took it and she hoisted me to my feet. She was surprisingly strong for a girl as slender and beautiful as she was. "Are you suggesting something, _Sensei_?" she asked, putting particular emphasis on my title.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Oh you." I headed into my room and picked up the book I'd been reading to her the night before. "Want to read more? I actually have the audiobook version so we can-"

"No, I want you to read it," Monika's eyes were pleading. _Oh no, she's too cute. Must…resist…the hnnnnnnng!_

"Alright, just let me take a shower since I doubt we'll be going out anywhere tonight." I went and showered, changed into my sleepwear and came back out, feeling a bit better. No matter what, I always felt better after a shower or bath, regardless of the changes to my data file. It's weird to think I'm just a bunch of one's and zero's now.

Monika was on my laptop, looking frustrated. When she saw me, she motioned me over. "Jon, the internet connection to reality is gone."

Startled by that bit of news, I sat down and tried to hit the refresh button, but I only got the same error message, telling me to connect to wifi. "Well, they did say our internet connection might go." I checked my phone and the same was true there as well. We still had access to this reality's internet, but that was limited.

Suddenly, the TV flickered on. Static covered the screen for a moment, then a grainy image appeared. It was the figure from before. "Hello…ou hear….hear me?!" The figure was shouting, and it wasn't distorted. I heard the voice of a woman calling out.

"We can hear you," I said as loudly as I dared. "What's happening?!"

The image flickered for a bit, then the TV itself seemed to glitch. Then it returned and the image was crystal clear. The figure materialized into a young woman. She had light brown hair, light blue eyes, a fair complexion and a serious look on her face. "Hello? Can you hear me now?"

"Yes we can," I said. "What happened, are you okay, miss?"

She looked down at herself suddenly and her face paled. "The disguise…oh well, there's no time now!" She looked at me with a serious look in her eyes. "Jon, our connection to your new reality won't last for much longer, maybe three days at best. Three days for you, at least."

_For us? I don't like the sound of that_. "What's causing it?" Monika asked.

The woman shook her head. "We're not quite sure, but we have a theory. That's the reason we made contact. Jon, you've heard references to Project Libitina, right?"

"Yeah, it's something Dan Salvato referenced in the game files, right?"

The woman shook her head. "It's more than that. It's real. It's a dangerous experiment started by the United States government back in 2017 to create true artificial intelligence. It was the original name of a project now known as Project Shadow."

I looked at Monika, who was frozen. Her eyes were wide with shock. _Was she just the result of some government science experiment?_ I turned back to the woman. "Are you saying…this game is the result of that project?"

She held out her hand. "Let me explain, it's more complicated than that. You see, Project Shadow involved the transfer of a human consciousness from a body into a computer. They captured a young toddler named Libitina, and they hooked her up and connected her to the computer, subjecting her to painful experiments in order to get her mind to travel towards any place safe. Finally, they believe that they succeeded."

I clenched my teeth in fury. I was almost literally seeing red, but a cool hand on my own snapped me out of it. Monika's hand was trembling. "Go on," I said, not wanting to hear this but knowing I needed to know.

"Libitina continued to grow and mature inside the computer. The government didn't know it, but they'd created a monster. She learned at an exponential rate and the government-grade firewalls wouldn't be enough to keep her at bay for long. So…they tried to delete her but she managed to escape into Doki Doki Literature Club somehow. This game…is her prison."

"Wait…this game is a prison?!" I shouted, instantly guessing the rest.

The girl nodded somberly. "I'm sorry…we weren't allowed to tell you until now."

I didn't make any effort to hide my anger now. I stood and shouted at the screen, "HOW DARE YOU?! First you kidnap me and digitize me into a game, then refuse to tell me anything, and now this!? My patience is running out!"

Clearly taken aback by my anger, she looked at me. "Jon, what happened? This isn't like you."

"Why does everyone assume they know what I'm like!?" I shouted. "Maybe this is just who I am, huh!?"

"Jon…please…" Monika looked up at me, looking terrified now.

I turned to her and for some reason my eyes seemed to burn. I barely registered a blue glow around my vision, but I wasn't paying attention. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard a voice begging me to calm down, but I suppressed that voice. My glare was enough to cause Monika to shut up. I looked back at the mysterious girl. "Keep going! Tell me everything!"

She stammered a bit before beginning again. "Th-they decided to try and delete her file, but something went wrong. She escaped into DDLC. The government officials contacted the creator and told them what was happening and had one of their best coders place barriers around the game so that she couldn't escape. However, even that was too late. The prison coding was enough to keep her at bay, but she still had free reign within the game. She's the reason every copy of the game is so glitchy. She even managed to upload the game to the internet."

"Is that all?" I was seething now, my jaw hurting from my teeth clenching.

"She's…getting stronger. With every download, she gets more powerful."

"And why wasn't it taken down?!"

"They tried!" The girl was clearly getting upset. I felt a sick satisfaction in her obvious discomfort, "but Libitina hid herself in one of the characters they couldn't find her! She could be any-" The screen went dark and the TV screen displayed only static.

"Oh for the love of GOD!" I shouted angrily. I picked up the nearest object and threw it at the TV. Fortunately, it was only a box of tissues and bounced off the screen without breaking it.

"Jon…" Monika's voice sounded meek, trembling with fear.

I stood and grabbed a coat. "I'm heading out for a bit," I said through clenched teeth.

"JON PRICE!"

I twirled around to see Monika staring at me with her now glowing green eyes. "What is it?" I said evenly, glaring at her.

"Stop this! This isn-"

"IF SOMEONE TELLS ME THIS ISN'T LIKE ME AGAIN, I'LL-!" I stopped and sighed. "I need to go for a walk…"

Monika looked down, nearly in tears. That voice in my head telling me to calm down came back in full force, but I didn't want to listen. _Why can't people just leave me alone?! I don't need any-_

Something hard hit my stomach, knocking the air out of me. I collapsed to my knees only to be greeted to a fist coming down towards my head. **SMACK**! I stumbled back. Darkness surrounded my vision and I blacked out.

I woke later in my bed. It was dark outside now, but the lights were still on. My head ached immensely. _Man, Monika can sure pack a punch_. I sat up and a cold compress fell onto my lap. It was warm now. I reached up and felt a small bump on my head from where Monika had hit me. _Monika…where is she?!_ I moved to get up, but the pain in my head and stomach gave me pause. I took a few seconds to regain my composure before I stood and looked around the apartment. She was gone.

"Jon, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought," I said to myself as I sunk back into bed. "You disgust me…" I guess it took me getting punched to my senses to realize the truth. _I'm in love with Monika_. The teasing we did, the love of reading, I'd gone and fallen in love with someone who was technically ten years my junior. _Why, why did I chase her away? She was trying to help and I screwed it up, like I screw everything up_.

Invasive thoughts permeated my mind, thoughts about how worthless I was, how I was just holding everyone back, how there was no point in trying because everything I did would end up in failure. Utter shame and humiliation permeated my every being. I couldn't even bring myself to cry, I felt so pathetic.

"I don't deserve to love Monika," I said suddenly aloud, closing my eyes.

I heard the dropping of a plastic bag on the ground. Looking over, I saw Monika staring at me in shock. _Did she hear me?_ "J-Jon? What did you say…?"

I looked away from her, feeling unworthy to look at her. "Why did you come back? After everything I did, I wouldn't blame you if you hated me."

**SMACK!** _Ow! Seriously, when did I become Monika's punching bag_? She grabbed my face and made me face her. Her green eyes were full of tears. Her expression seemed to be one of relief and anger. "I told you not to do that to me again!" she shouted. "Dammit, Jon…"

_What have I done? I've made this beautiful young woman upset at me again. I don't deserve her._ "I'm sorry…isn't enough. It will never be enough. Monika…"

Tears flowed from her emerald orbs and she moved towards me, straddling me. "Jon, please…" She cupped my cheeks in her hands. I avoided her gaze, the humiliation flowing over me in waves. "Look at me." I looked back up at her hesitantly. To my surprise, there was a smile playing over her face. "I forgive you. I told you, didn't I? I'd be here for you." So saying, she leaned down and kissed me. Her lips on mine felt soft, tender. She broke the kiss after only a few seconds, but to me those seconds were like an eternity of bliss. She looked at me, the smile on her lips had moved towards her eyes. I'd kissed a couple other girls in the past, but nothing felt as magical as the one I received from Monika. "I heard what you said earlier. Don't talk like that, love isn't about whether you deserve it or not, it just happens."

_Am I really being lectured about love by a sapient game character_? "Monika, I…"

She pulled me close and held my head between her breasts. The softness and warmth I felt was enough for me to relax. Tears silently flowed from my eyes. "I love you too, Jon. I know that might sound strange after knowing you for less than a week, but I love you. Not because you're real, but because of who you are as a person. You're one of the most empathetic people I've met. If you weren't, you wouldn't have absorbed the others' negative character traits so fast. You really care about those you love. You have a passion for reading and writing, even if not as much as Yuri. You are strong enough to have overcome all that life has thrown at you. And you risked a lot to come here. You risked everything." She stroked my hair gently. "I'll keep telling you over and over again until you get it. I am here to help you just as you came to help us. And I love you."

She kept my head in her chest for a while, just running her hands through my hair and up and down my back. Her presence was soothing, and soon my tears stopped. I sat up and looked at her properly for the first time since I'd taken out my anger on her. "Thank you…Monika Nakamura."

"Anything for you, Jon Price." She wrapped her arms around my neck. Reflectively I wrapped my arms around her waist and closed my eyes. Our lips touched once again. If our first kiss was tender, this one was electrifying. Acting on an instinct I'd long thought forgotten, I pulled her closer, one hand moving to the back of her head while the other remained around her waist. She responded in kind to my intentions, her breath quickening. She opened her mouth slowly, invitingly. My tongue made its way into her mouth as hers did the same to mine. We took time to explore each other's mouths before I pulled her down onto the bed on top of me. It was more than a kiss, this was the joining of two people who'd fallen deeply in love. My heard was racing, and I felt Monika's heartbeat as well, speeding up as our mouths were interlocked.

After about a minute of this, we broke the kiss to catch our breath. Her face was flushed, and I was positive mine was too. We panted heavily, but a smile broke out over our faces. Suddenly, Monika began to laugh. I joined her moments later. In that moment, every negative thought and emotion I'd been feeling seemed to be washed away. To me, she appeared as a goddess in human form, radiant and beautiful as a summer night sky.

"Thank you," I said after a while as she lay her head on my chest, my arms around her.

She chuckled a bit. "No, thank you," she said. "You're a good kisser. Have a lot of practice?" she was teasing me again.

"I have kissed before, yes," I explained, playing with her long hair. I smiled at the memory of my first and only girlfriend.

"Tell me about her." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

_And so it begins_. "Her name was Frieda. She transferred into my school during my last year of high school. We hit it off after she heard from my sister that the two of us shared a birthday. We began talking and realized we had a lot in common, love of writing, science fiction, hell she even introduced me to a book series I grew to like. We were together for about a year."

"Why'd you break up?" she asked.

"We had some…irreconcilable differences at the time. We were young and didn't know quite what we wanted, but she realized first that it wouldn't work. She broke up with me a week before our one-year anniversary." I smiled a bit. "I'm over it now. I haven't spoken to her since, though, but I hope she's doing well."

Monika snuggled closer into me. "She sounds like a good person."

"She is. But you're perfect."

She giggled, and her giggle sounded a bit different. It was hard to describe, but it sounded happier than she'd ever sounded before. "You're perfect too, love."

It was at that moment that the TV decided to interrupt our moment. I heard static from the television and turned just in time to see the girl from before looking at us, a wide grin on her face. "We were wondering when you two would hook up."

Monika scrambled to get off, completely embarrassed. I sighed and slowly sat up. "There's a time and place, missy." I then remembered how I'd acted and looked down. "Listen, about earlier, I…there's no excuse for how I acted."

"H-hey, no need to apologize," the girl said. "Sure, it took me by surprise, but after we took the time to study your character profile, we understand why now. We didn't expect you to take the amplified negative traits of the other girls. It wasn't a part of our calculations. We're sorry."

I looked up, smiling a bit. "It's in the past, let's move on. So, is there anything else you can tell me? About this game and its origin?"

"I don't have much more time. It's either I tell you the history, or give you a new ability."

I looked at Monika. There was an unspoken agreement between us. History was useful, but if our opponent was a rogue human-consciousness AI, we needed all the help we could get. "Ability."

She nodded and the TV turned off. Suddenly, my head exploded with new information. Defense martial arts, coding knowledge and more. I gasped and clenched my teeth as my mind seemed to be overloaded with new information and skills. After about a minute of this, I gasped and sat up. I realized Monika was standing a few feet away looking worried. To try and diffuse the situation, I said, "I know Kung Fu."

She got the reference immediately and leaned forward. "Show me." We both snorted and laughed. _I swear, her laugh is bubblier and magical now_.

"No but seriously, I do now," I said as I slowly sat up. I looked at the screen. The woman was still there. "What did you do?"

"We converted some physical skills into data and uploaded other book knowledge to your program. It will take about a day for your body to adjust to the physical skills but your book knowledge should be integrating faster. I'm sorry we had no time to upload the information about Project Shadow."

"You told me enough so far," I said. "I just need to try and find Libitina before she does any more damage, right?"

"Please hurry…" and with that, the television shut itself off.

"I don't think we can rely on help from them anytime soon," I said as I stood a bit unsteadily. Monika immediately moved to help support me. I headed towards the kitchen and drank about three full glasses of water before I headed back to the living room. I sat on my bed, leaning against the wall. Monika quickly joined me and placed something in my lap. Looking down, I saw _The Fellowship of the Ring_ laying in my lap. She looked over at me. "Well then, should we continue?"

* * *

**Big confession time! The action should pick up from here. Enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	10. The Attempt and Salvation

Monika and I didn't leave the house all Sunday. Instead, we spent it reading _The Fellowship of the Ring_. All the while, I kept the suicide of Sayori in the back of my mind. I wasn't sure that I should spend the entire day relaxing while the danger kept growing, but Monika insisted she was keeping an eye on Sayori. "Besides," she'd said, "you need a day to just rest after all that's happened and to let all you've learned integrate."

"Okay, I trust you," I said before opening the book and continuing where we left off the night prior. Aside from meal breaks, Monika just kept snuggling up to me as I read. I couldn't remember the last time I had such fun with someone else. When early evening rolled around, I found a stopping point and closed the book. "We should get going," I said, standing and stretching.

"I think you should go alone," Monika said. "I probably won't be able to go over there until it's over, if it happens."

I sighed. "Fine. Just keep in constant contact with me, alright?"

"Will do, love."

I dressed in the darkest clothes I could find, putting on a mask to shield my identity and grabbing one of my pocketknives just in case. "Okay, well I'm off."

Monika came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck, Jon."

I smiled and winked before I headed out. I stopped at a convenience store first and bought some snacks and a few drinks. I wasn't sure how long I'd be outside Sayori's house, but I hoped that my actions wouldn't be necessary.

As the sun set, I sat and watched it on a park bench near my house. When it was dark and the cold set in, I stood and headed towards Sayori's house. As I was heading there, I got a message from Monika. **Hey, did that girl give you the knowledge to turn invisible?**

It occurred to me then that the girl might just have. **I don't know, let me check**. I closed my eyes and thought. A string of letters and numbers popped into my head. Somehow I knew that this code would make me harder to see, or rather, easier to be ignored. **I found something that would work just as well**.

**Great! Here's something for good luck!** I then received an image. My jaw almost dropped. Monika was standing in front of the bathroom mirror in nothing but her panties. Her hands were covering her breasts and she was smiling at the mirror teasingly. _Jesus, that girl…_

I placed the coding into my own character file and instantly something about me felt different. I couldn't describe it. It was as if my body felt lighter, airier. I took a step and hear nothing. I stomped the ground and only heard a slight tap. It was working! I headed towards Sayori's house, making sure not to walk into anyone I passed. When I arrived, I saw one light on in her house. I guessed it was her own room light. I snuck in, feeling like a criminal every moment, but I didn't know what else to do. I snuck towards the wall and listened. I heard soft sobbing. _Uh oh, this isn't good_.

I was instantly overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness and regret, but I'd gotten used to the feeling of negative emotion overpowering me. This must have been Sayori's own emotions being transferred to me. Despite that, I still heard her sobbing. In fact, the sobbing only seemed to get worse. I listened for a bit, unsure what to do. I asked Monika if I should knock.

**I don't know, Jon. This is all new to me. Judging from what I can see of her file, though, I'm guessing Motoyasu rejected her confession. **

**I see**. _Damn, this is scaring me! I'm so afraid!_

**Do what you think is best.**

**Alright. Thanks Monika.**

I leaned against the wall and sighed. I went over every possible scenario in my head. _Suppose I go in early and stop her, will she try again? But if I wait, will I be able to stop the script?_ _Aaargh! This is too frustrating! Someone tell me what to do, please_! But of course, no one answered. I continued listening. The sobs kept on going until around 10 PM, they suddenly stopped. I kept a close listen. I heard something moving around, a door opening, shutting, opening again, shutting, a cabinet door being pulled open, a chair being moved-

_Oh no! She's going to do it! Earlier than expected too!_ I tried opening the door, but it was deadbolted. In a panic, I listened. I heard the sound of something being knocked over. Without hesitation I ran at the door, breaking it down. It was dark inside. Turning on the light on my phone, I rushed upstairs and, none too gently, opened every door I found until I found Sayori's room. She was hanging there, tears streaming down her face. She was clawing at her noose. Reaching into my pocket, I brought the knife out and approached, but a hand clamped onto my arm.

"You will not have her!"

A voice spoke from behind me. I turned to see a distorted figure before me. She wore the uniform of the high school, with a white bow and coral brown hair. It was distorted, but it was clearly Monika-no, the Monika I'd grown to know hadn't worn her bow in a week. Reality seemed to spark and glitch around me. I could almost hear Sayo-nara playing in the background. The fake Monika held onto me and her face came into crystal clarity for a moment. "You will not have her! MC is mine! And now, so are you!"

I screamed in pain as I felt myself glitching in and out. A message appeared on my new console. **FIGHT IT JON!**

I glared at her, the fake Monika, and raised my fist. "No, you're wrong. _You_ will not have her…LIBITINA!"

A look of shock appeared on her face. My fist connected with her jaw before she could react. She seemed to vanish into a mist and phased through the window. Reality stabilized. I focused my attention on Sayori and notices she'd stopped moving. "No no no nononono!" I opened my knife blade and cut through the noose. Catching her, I brought her down and checked for a pulse. I was relieved to feel a faint one, but she wasn't breathing. I began to automatically perform CPR on her. "Come back…no dammit!"

At that I heard a gasp coming from her. She coughed. I helped her up and she clung to me. I guessed she didn't know who I was yet. "Shhh, you're safe now."

Sayori grabbed me and held me, sobbing hard. After a few minutes of this, she looked up at me. "Sen…sei…? Why are you…?" Her eyes widened and she held her head in her hands. "What are these…memories…?"

_Oh no…_ I quickly sent a message to Monika. **Monika! Check her memory files!**

A few moments later she replied **There's a lot more memory there now than there was before! Almost as much as mine has! She's remembering!**

**Get over here as soon as you can! **I held Sayori tightly as she screamed in terror. I imagined it was ten times harder for her, having to remember dying not once, but twice, and each time millions of times. Her screams of terror echoed through the house, eventually dying down. "You're safe now," I reassured her.

Monika rushed in a few minutes later, a look of worry on her face. She looked around the room. "Something was here, wasn't there?" she asked.

"Not something, someone. Libitina made an actual move," I said.

At that, Sayori looked up at Monika. I saw pure hatred in those blue eyes. She quickly stood and grabbed the knife I'd used to cut her down. She held it up threateningly at Monika. "You…you were the one who did this!" I stood quickly, but she only pointed the knife at me too, then back to Monika. Monika's gaze was downwards. "You did all those things! Causing me to kill myself over and over, making Yuri the way she was, and then casually tossing Natsuki aside when she was useless to you!"

Monika's eyes were glistening now. "I'm…not going to deny that."

"How…how could you Monika?! Do we mean so little to you that you can just casually throw us aside?! Are we not real enough for you!? HUH?"

I moved to stand between Sayori and Monika. Sayori looked at me in shock. "Sayori, that's enough. Put the knife down. We can talk about this now."

"Sensei…you should understand more than anyone. You know the real her, how she killed us all just to be with the player…my best friend…isn't…" She lowered her head, tears flowing anew. I waited for her to process what she was remembering. When she looked up at me, her eyes were glowing a bright blue. Her rage had only seemed to double. "She's evil, Sensei! She even told me I was a burden…even this time."

I looked back to Monika. She shook her head in denial. I turned back to Sayori. "She couldn't have."

"She came over earlier tonight! Told me I was a burden and that I should just-"

"That wasn't her, that was someone else disguising herself as Monika," I interjected. I took one step forward. Sayori took one step back, knife outstretched. I stopped. "Listen to me, put the knife down. Neither Monika or I are going to hurt you."

"How? How do I know you aren't?"

"Why would I come here and stop you from killing yourself if I was?" I asked.

Sayori paused, but only for a moment. Her glowing eyes returned. _Seriously, is this a thing that sapient people can do now?_ "You may have an ulterior motive…get me to lower my guard."

"If I wanted that, I wouldn't have allowed your memories to come back, would I?"

Her hand was trembling a bit. She seemed to be having trouble coming up with an excuse. I braced myself and took another step forward, extending my left hand. "Come on, Sayori, give me the knife. I know you're scared, but I swear we're not here to cause you harm. If you can't trust Monika, trust me. After all, I am a teacher."

Sayori's grip on the knife faltered and it fell out of her hands, clattering to the floor. I quickly scooped it up and put it away after closing the blade. She avoided my gaze as I led her to her bed. I motioned for Monika to join us. I sat beside Sayori and Monika sat beside me. "Sensei…I'm so confused."

"I understand, I really do," I said calmly.

"What do I do? Am I real? Are my feelings for Motoyasu real?" The poor girl sounded so insecure.

"I'll be honest, Sayori, I don't have the answer to that. All I can do is theorize." She looked up at me, as if looking for any kind of hope. I hope I can give her some. "Before I arrived, you four girls were the only people on the screen, and you didn't even move. You were a bunch of sprites. Now look at you. You're living, breathing people. There's even a whole town full of new people. Yes, we're still in the game, but you're more real now than you've ever been. You even know what you are. So that means your feelings for him are real."

"So that's why…it hurts when he rejected me yesterday?"

Monika and I looked at each other in shock. _Why would he do that?_ I knew that was one of the choices during Sayori's confession scene, but I'd have thought Motoyasu had more sense than that. _Well, perhaps he was somehow influenced by Libitina_. "Yes. Heartbreak is very painful. I've been through it before." I felt Monika's hand on my own, squeezing it comfortingly. "But, as the poet says, 'Time heals all wounds'. I promise you, this pain will lessen. He may have rejected you, but you can't let that stop you from living."

Sayori leaned in and buried her face in my chest again, her sobs beginning anew. I put one hand around her shoulder. Monika looked down, looking extremely guilt-ridden. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Sensei…"

"Sayori, I think you and Monika should talk."

She stiffened. "I don't have anything to say to that bitch!" Her words were full of venom.

"As your teacher, I insist. Would it help if I took away both of your admin privileges?"

Sayori and Monika both looked at me in shock. "You can do that?" they both asked simultaneously.

"Well, suppress them for a while. Yes." I turned to Monika and tapped my head. "Something our mutual friend uploaded to my mind Saturday night. I can only do it for an hour though."

Sayori clenched her hands together. "I…I'd feel more comfortable with that, yes."

I pulled up two console windows, opened up the character files for Sayori and Monika then looked at them. "Are you two sure?"

"If it will give me a chance to apologize, yes," Monika said softly.

I deactivated their admin codes for the allotted hour. I stood up. "You're both two normal girls. No extraordinary powers, no nothing. I know I should step outside, but I don't want you two to-"

"Sensei, we'll be fine," Sayori said. "I won't stoop to her level."

It hurt to hear the level of hatred in that voice, but I nodded. "I'll be downstairs if you need me, alright?" And with that, I stepped out. I headed downstairs and sat in the darkened living room. From upstairs I heard Sayori's screaming voice and Monika's trembling tone. That hour was one of the longest I'd ever experienced. Soon Sayori's screams turned into sobs. Monika was also sobbing. I felt a stab of pain. Hearing those two girls cry was enough to make me shed a few tears. Soon I heard the upstairs door open. Sayori and Monika walked down. "Jon, why are you sitting in the dark?" Sayori asked as she turned on a light.

"Sorry, I just-wait, what did you just call me?"

Sayori gave me a wide smile. "What, only your girlfriend can call you Jon?"

"Girlfriend, wha-? Wait, Monika told you?"

Monika gave me her signature smile and pose. "I did."

_Girlfriend…how long has it been since I had called anyone my girlfriend? Ten years?_ I blushed. "Well, as long as you stick to calling me Sensei in public, I don't mind."

She beamed at me. "Thank you!"

"So…I hesitate to ask, but how did your talk go?"

Sayori looked down and Monika played with her hair. The way Monika did that reminded me of Yuri. "Well…I haven't forgiven Monika yet," Sayori said almost regretfully, "But…I really want to. I'm willing to give her another chance because, well…Monika, you're the big sister I've always wanted."

Monika looked touched by the sentiment and her face flushed. "R-really? Even now?"

"Monika…I can understand why you did the things you did, and now that you've told me about Libitina I'm not that angry. But…I'm still just a bit mad at you, you know. I…you could have told us. We would have understood."

"Would you, though?" Monika asked.

"Well…I…"

"I didn't think so." Monika looked down sadly.

"Besides," I interjected, "you were all following a set script. You couldn't even if you wanted to."

"But what about this time, why didn't you just straight up and tell us?" Sayori asked.

"We weren't sure if we should," I said. "I've watched this game played and wanted to try and be a bit more subtle than that. But now that you're aware and have the same abilities as Monika and myself, we could use your help."

"M-me?" She looked astonished now. "But…I just got these abilities. I don't know how to use them."

"Monika can teach you like she's been teaching me," I said. "Besides, she really does want to help."

"I do, so much," Monika said. "I really do. I want this torture to end, for all of us."

Sayori looked down. I could tell her depression was getting the better of her. Taking a chance, I walked over to Monika and took her hand, then pulled her towards Sayori. I pulled the two of them into a group hug. "And we will succeed, alright?"

Both girls looked a bit startled by my boldness, but hugged me back, Monika without hesitation and Sayori a bit tentatively. I rubbed their heads tenderly. After a while, we broke the hug. "Thank you Jon," Sayori said, "I needed that."

"Me too," Monika said softly.

"My pleasure."

Monika and Sayori smiled at me. "So…what now?" Sayori asked.

"Well, I don't like the idea of you spending the rest of the night alone," I said. "I'd like it if someone stayed here tonight. Monika, perhaps. I know you don't trust her yet, but-"

"Could you stay here too, Jon?" Sayori asked.

"Wait, me?!" I pointed at myself. "Sayori, I'm a teacher right now."

"Yeah, and you've had me over at your place every day since you arrived," Monika reminded me.

"Eeeeh? You have? No fair, Monika, you meanie!" Sayori said, puffing out her cheeks. "I want to come over too!"

"Now hang on, I didn't mean to suggest-" I started to object, but I was cut off.

"It's kind of small there, Sayori," Monika said. "Will you be okay with that?"

"Hold on," I tried to interject again. "What about carrying the stuff from the festival?"

"Yeah! Just let me get my uniform." She rushed upstairs happily, ignoring my statement.

I sighed and collapsed back onto the couch. "Man, really? First one girl now two? I'm just glad you're all eighteen."

"Why's that?" Monika asked as she sat next to me.

"If this was America, I'd at least get a shorter jail sentence." I leaned back and blew air out of my mouth. I was getting a headache.

I felt pressure against my shoulder. Monika was leaning against me again. "Everything will be alright."

I smiled a bit. "I know."

Sayori came back downstairs carrying an overnight travel bag. "I'm ready to go!" There was her bubbly personality, but this time it felt a lot more genuine than before.

"Great! Come on, Sayori, I'll show you the way."

Monika and Sayori headed out. I followed, giving the two girls a bit of space while I tried to collect my thoughts. If Libitina was willing to take direct action, it meant she was getting desperate. I guessed she saw me as a threat to whatever plans she has, otherwise she wouldn't have tried to directly interfere in her attempt to kill Sayori. She must have been getting desperate, meaning she'd be harder to get a read on. I had to pay particular attention to any new developments within the storyline. _But can I do that? Am I really that smart?_

As those last thoughts entered my mind, I realized I wasn't. I only appeared observant because I knew what the game plot was. I wasn't as observant as I could be. I'd never even tried. I was a dense idiot, probably even worse than Motoyasu. _Ugh_…

"Jon? Jon!"

Monika's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up. Monika and Sayori were standing in front of me. I guess I'd stopped walking at some point. No, we'd just arrived back at my place. "Huh, wha…?"

"Keys?" Monika looked worried again.

I fumbled around and unlocked the door. The girls stepped inside. "Get settled in," I said. "I'm gonna sit out here and think for a bit."

"Okay," Monika said, sounding concerned.

I closed the door and headed out towards a nearby bench. My new apartment was located next to a park. I sat back and once more got lost in my thoughts. I tried to think about anything unusual to look out for. Libitina could be anyone. I tried to narrow the suspects. I doubted that any of the girls would be hosts for this rogue AI, especially not Sayori and Monika. So what was I missing? I tried to think, but my headache returned with a vengeance. I didn't know where to start! "Aaargh, this is too hard!" I hit the side of the bench hard angrily. I forced myself to take deep breaths to calm down. I was too agitated to think. Calming breathing…calming breathing… I took a few deep breaths. "Gah, I feel so useless…"

After a while I stood. A sudden breeze blew and chilled me. I rushed back towards the apartment and just in time too as rain began to fall. When I entered the room Sayori was already lying in Monika's sleeping bag fast asleep. The light was still on and Monika was in my bed. I went and changed into my pajamas and came back out. She heard me come in and motioned me over. "You alright?" she asked as I sat on the edge of the bed.

"My mind's all over the place," I said. "So much has happened already, and now the future is uncertain. I don't know what will happen or how to prepare for it. I can't even guess."

"Hey, it's okay." She scooted over and took my hand. "You saved Sayori, didn't you? And you made me a very happy woman. You're halfway done. Natsuki and Yuri are next."

I nodded. "The game never progressed to Monday, though. Tomorrow I mean."

"It will, I know it will." She pulled me down next to her. "Just relax, okay?"

Monika pulled the covers over us. I closed my eyes and relaxed in her warm and loving embrace. I fell asleep listening to the rain outside.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter felt a bit rushed, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!**

**morbiusgreen**


	11. Rescue

I woke early the next morning. I didn't want to get up I was so comfortable with Monika still in my arms, but I knew I had to. After all, I needed to make sure the Literature Club's festival went off without a hitch. I gently crawled out of Monika's grasp, showered, dressed and made more eggs and toast. Sayori was the first to wake up. She thanked me for my help and headed out. "I did make a promise to carry the stuff we made on Saturday, after all," Sayori said as she grabbed a piece of toast and ran out with it in her mouth.

"Whoa, that really happens?" I said to myself as I went to wake Monika.

At my touch, Monika stirred and opened one eye. She smiled a bit. "Good morning, love."

"Hey there, sleepyhead. Time to get up. I made breakfast."

She slid out of bed, yawned and went to grab some of the toast and eggs I'd already put on a plate for her. "Where's Sayori?"

"Left already. She needed to go back to help carry the stuff to school."

Monika nodded. We ate breakfast together as per the new norm. We talked about simple things, such as the school, her new memories, my old life and such. It was relaxing in a way and helped me to not think so hard about what had happened the night before. I hadn't had this much fun talking to someone in a long time. Finally, Monika grabbed her things and left. I left a half hour later.

When I arrived at the school, I was surprised by how decked out the building was. Banners hung from the roof advertising certain clubs and the festival in general. The banners were in all sorts of colors and writing styles. I saw banners for the Debate Club, Calligraphy Club, Martial Arts Club and more of the major clubs I'd heard about from other teachers during the past week. The sun was shining brightly but the ground was still wet from the rain the previous night. The late autumn air was cool and moist, steam rising from the ground as the morning sun hit it. It reminded me of my home state of Oregon. I headed inside and towards the teacher's room.

"Good morning everyone," I said as I walked in. The teachers greeted me back with the same amount of enthusiasm.

"Hey there Jon-Sensei," Ito-Sensei greeted me. I'd gotten the feeling over the past week that Ito-Sensei was one of the more respected teachers in the school. She'd been a teacher for over thirty years. She started right out of college at this school. She even went here as a high schooler and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Despite her age she didn't look a day over forty. In all our interactions she'd been kind and friendly.

"Ito-Sensei, good morning. So what's your club doing for the festival?"

Ito-Sensei was the advisor for the Debate Club. She'd told me that past Thursday during the lunch break. "Ah, they're going to be having a butler café with everyone dressed as official butlers, even the girls."

"Oh nice!"

"What about the Literature Club?" she asked.

"They're going to perform either poems they wrote or poems by others, "I explained "They're even going to invite others to perform. They're providing snacks and mood lighting too."

"Haha, that sounds just like Nakamura-san. She's always been a bright and intelligent student. I'm not surprised she came up with the idea." Ito-Sensei chuckled.

"From what I know of her so far, yeah you're right." I smiled. "She's a good kid. They're all great."

"You seem to be handling yourself in that club pretty well," she said, "I thought it would be the death of you."

_What the hell's that supposed to mean_? "Ahaha, it's been tough yes, but definitely worth it. I should actually go check in on them."

"Good luck, Jon-Sensei."

"You too, Ito-Sensei."

I grabbed my bag and headed towards the Literature Club's classroom. When I arrived, everyone was there busily setting things up. Sayori and Motoyasu were covering the windows with black sheets of paper, Monika was busy pushing desks against the wall and putting the chairs in a half circle, Natsuki was setting up the snack area and Yuri was placing mood candles around the room. Motoyasu was the first to see me. "Hey there, Price-Sensei."

"Hello, Chiba-san. Hello everyone. How's everything going so far?"

Monika looked over. "We're pretty much all set up. What do you think?"

"Well, it looks good so far. Can I help with anything?"

"No, we're pretty much set up," Monika said.

"Great!" I clapped my hands happily. "I can't wait to see you guys perform. Speaking of which…Kobayashi-san, Tanaka-san, are you two going to perform? I know you guys said you were a bit unsure."

"Ah, um, well, my mom said it'd be nice to see me perform today," Yuri said.

"I-I don't mind doing it either," Natsuki said.

"Glad to hear it."

"And you, Price-Sensei?" Motoyasu asked.

I was taken a bit aback by his question, well not the question, but the fact that he was the one asking. "I…well, I'm not a student, so-"

"Tell you what," Monika interrupted me, "I'll ask our audience if they want to hear you. If we get a good response, you'll have to." She gave me a cheeky grin.

I raised my hands in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Sayori seemed excited to hear that, although I wasn't quite sure what she was actually thinking now. She was as self-aware as Monika was now, but she was also still suffering from depression. I still needed to keep an eye on her. We weren't out of the woods yet.

Nothing much of note happened in the first few hours of the festival. The girls each performed their poems and a few of the other students volunteered to do the same. I was convinced to perform as well and was generally well received. Yuri's mother even showed up for one of the performances and congratulated me on how well I did. "I see now why Yuri speaks so highly of you. She really looks up to you," she told me afterwards.

"M-Mom!" Yuri played with her hair in embarrassment. "It's not like that…"

I smiled at the two. "I'm flattered you think so highly of me, Tanaka-san."

She tugged on her wrists nervously. "Um…eh…yeah…" She looked away nervously, fiddling with her hair.

"She's as shy as I was when I was her age," Yuki said to me when Yuri went back to help.

"She's a good kid, just needs some help with…you know."

Yuki nodded. "I'm actually going to get her to start going to a therapist starting next week. I already told her and she agreed."

"I'm glad to hear it," I said, "and like I said, I'll keep an eye on her."

Yuki smiled at me. "If you want to go explore the festival, I can keep an eye on things here."

"Before I go, could I make a suggestion?" I asked.

"Sure!"

I cleared my throat. "I think it'd be a good idea if Tanaka-san spent time outside of school with her friends. Maybe she could have a sleepover with them at some point, or you could host one. Being with friends seems to be something she really enjoys, even if she and Kobayashi-san argue about what literature is from time to time."

Yuki nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind."

I nodded and headed out to explore the rest of the festival. Despite being in a game, I knew a bit about Japanese school festivals, although my knowledge was limited to what I'd seen in anime. As the game was based off of that demographic, I figured it would be more similar to that then anything else, and I was right. I saw a maid café, a haunted house and many other typical depictions of club or classroom activities. There were parents wandering around the school as well as younger children and college students. The school was fuller than I'd seen it before.

It was mid afternoon when it happened. I was sitting in a bench outside the school building eating a sandwich lunch when I got a message from Monika. **There's trouble in the clubroom, and I can't get in! Please hurry!**

I ran back in and maneuvered my way through the crowds. Somehow, I managed to get stuck in every large crowd possible. It took me longer than I wanted to get to the clubroom. Monika, Yuri, Yuki and Sayori were standing outside the closed doors, all looking worried. Monika saw me and rushed over. "It's Natsuki's dad," she whispered. "He's locked himself in the room with her. I sent Motoyasu to get a teacher, but he should have been back by now. He's got a gun!"

I felt the blood drain from my face in horror. I rushed over and put my ear to the door. I heard a gruff and slurred voice beyond shouting angrily. "…not made of money, you little bitch!"

"Dad, it's my money and it was for the festival!" Natsuki's tone was one of pure fear and a bit of anger.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" I heard a slap and someone falling to the ground. Since the windows in the door were still bordered up with black paper I couldn't see inside. "Come home right now!"

"…No…"

There was a pause, then, "What did you just say?" His tone sounded like one of disbelief, as if he was surprised that Natsuki would speak back to him.

"Dad…my club needs me."

"How…dare you!?" I heard a blunt object impacting skin, a yelp from Natsuki and someone falling.

I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I turned to Monika. "Get everyone back now." My tone was dripping with venom and rage.

"Sensei-"

"Now, Nakamura-san. Call the police too."

Seeing my serious expression, Monika ushered everyone away. I stood, cracked my neck and rushed the door. It splintered at contact and I stumbled inside, falling flat. I quickly got to my feet. Nastsuki was lying on the floor, blood flowing from a gash in her forehead. She looked up at me. "Sensei…run…" she managed to say before she passed out.

The man before me looked tall and well fed, with shaggy black hair, dark brown eyes and some stubble. He held a SIG Sauer P220 Combat pistol in his hand. _Wait, how do I know that?!_ The man held the gun towards me. "Who the hell are you, punk?"

I looked down at Natsuki, then back at the man. "Did you do this to her?" I asked evenly. "Answer me truthfully."

"I ask the questions around here, you little shit!" he said. I saw then that the other hand held a plastic bottle. I could smell the booze from here.

"I'm her club's advisor," I said calmly. "Now answer my question. Did you do this to her?"

He grinned. "So what if I did? She's my daughter, I'll discipline her as I see fit!"

All my anger and rage I'd felt in the past week was instantly focused on this one person. I felt my eyes burning now. I could now see the blue glow all around me. "That was the wrong answer, you worthless fuck."

His face now showed a terrified expression. His hand began to tremble. "Who…what are you!?"

Feeling more confident, I took a step forward. To my delight, the man backed up. A shot rang out, but he must have missed. "Your life is forfeit." My voice sounded deeper, more threatening.

He fired another shot, missing again. He stumbled over a chair and fell back. Taking the chance, I rushed him, kicking the gun out of his hand. I grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt and lifted him up. He was trembling with terror. "Please…mercy! I'm begging you!"

"Did you show your own daughter mercy, you bastard!?" I threw him across the room with strength I didn't know I had. I ran towards him, my eyes hot with rage and obviously glowing. I grabbed his lapels with one hand and raised a fist with the other. He held his own hands up and whimpered. I then saw him for what he really was, a miserable man, broken and now harmless. My fist flew through the air and hit the wall next to his head. With that, my anger dissipated and I hoisted him to his feet. He was unconscious, a look of fear frozen on his face. I carried him out of the room and placed him in one of the benches. Sayori handed me a rope and I tied him up securely. I saw the PE teacher rush up with Motoyasu in tow. I explained to the teacher what had happened. He promised to look after Natsuki's dad.

I rushed back into the classroom. The other girls had surrounded the unconscious Natsuki. "Hey, give her some space," I said. The others backed away slightly. I checked her pulse, and to my relief she was still alive. She was breathing faintly too. "Does anyone have a towel or something?"

Yuri handed me some bandages. "Here, Sensei."

I pressed it gently against Natsuki's wound. "Nakamura, did you call the authorities?"

"They should be here in about ten minutes or so," Monika said.

"Great…" I bandaged up Natsuki's head. Thankfully around five minutes later I heard sirens arrive just outside. A group of medics tended to Natsuki while the police cuffed her dad. As a witness, I was asked to accompany the police to make a statement. I was there for around three hours. The girls and Yuri's mother were also called and asked to make a statement. I was reprimanded for my needlessly dangerous actions, but thanked for bringing him down. "We'll make sure this man won't hurt anyone ever again," the person interviewing me said.

After releasing us we went to the hospital to check on Natsuki. Her wound wasn't as severe as it looked, but the doctor didn't want her to go to school for the next few days. While Natsuki was talking with the other members of the club, I spoke to Yuki about Natsuki staying in the Tanaka household for a while. "Just until something more permanent can be arranged," I said.

"I don't mind if she stays with us for as long as she needs to," Yuki said. "We have a spare bedroom anyway, and I'm sure Yuri would love to have her over. You know, out of all the club members, she talked about that girl the most. It was a lot of complaining, but I could tell that Yuri really does care about her friendship with that girl."

"I got that impression too. Thank you so much Yuki. It means a lot that you'd watch over Kobayashi-san."

Monika chose that moment to walk in. "Sensei, Natsuki wants to talk to you alone."

I nodded at Yuki. "Talk to you later." I stood and headed into Natsuki's room. She was sitting up, looking down at her hands nervously. When I entered, she looked up at me. Her eyes were red from crying. "Hello, how are you feeling?" I asked as I pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed.

"Oh just great! I mean, my dad literally pistol whipped me and cut my head open, but apart from that, I'm all hunky-dory!" Her tone was sarcastic.

"So…basically fine," I said in a slight teasing manner. If she was joking like that, she was feeling better than she looked.

She turned away from me. "Is…my father…?"

"He's fine, if not a little freaked out. He's in jail right now awaiting trial for abuse charges. You may need to testify against him in court when that day comes."

She looked down. "I'm scared, Sensei…" I saw tears falling into her lap.

"I understand," I said. "Listen, Tanaka-san's mother has agreed to let you stay there for the foreseeable future. You'll get treated much better, eat better and be with a friend you trust."

She hugged her arms tightly and began to cry softly. I moved closer and gently pulled her into another hug. She didn't resist. "Thank you…Sensei…"

"That's what I'm here for." I held her for a bit before releasing her. "The doctor told me that you can leave anytime."

She nodded. "Thank you…Jon."

Surprised at her use of my first name, I looked at her. I nearly fell back in astonishment as I saw Natsuki's eyes glowing pink. _Does she know now? How?_ "Natsuki? Is everything alright?"

Natsuki looked up at me, her purple eyes blazing now. "I…I'm remembering…Oh God…"

**Monika! Get Sayori and come in now!** Moments later Monika and Sayori headed in. "She's remembering, and she knows. Look." I pointed to Natsuki's eyes, which were now glowing a bright pink.

Natsuki looked up at Monika and her face went pale. "Stay away from me…you monster!"

Sayori rushed over to Natsuki. "Natsuki-chan, calm down, everything's different now."

"Jon, why don't you let the three of us talk alone?" Monika suggested.

_Geez, how often must this lovely young woman be reminded of her faults?_ "Alright. Call me if you need anything." I headed out of the room and sat down on a bench nearby. Why was she remembering now, of all times? I tried to go over the reasons behind the glowing eyes. I hypothesized that those who were aware of the world being a game would be able to make their eyes glow. I looked at my reflection in my phone and concentrated. Sure enough, my eyes began to glow a dim blue and felt hot. I relaxed and it went away.

"Okay, so glowing eyes equals full realization," I said to myself softly, "so it makes sense that Monika and I could do it, but what about Sayori and Natsuki?" Sayori I could guess…the Sayori with Natsuki and Monika was the one from Act 4, but how did she become aware? What were the variables? And what about Natsuki? Think, think…

"Sensei?"

I jumped. Yuri stood in front of me, looking down at me curiously. She stumbled back when I reacted. "Ah, oh Tanaka-san, sorry, you startled me."

"N-no, it's my fault. Can…can I sit here?"

I scooted over to give her room. "Go ahead."

She sat and looked down for a bit. "Something troubling you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just a bit."

"Want to talk about it?"

That was a surprise. I looked over. I wasn't sure what to make of Yuri asking me that. She didn't seem the type to ask about that. She was looking back, her stare intense but also caring. "Ah, well…it's just this past week has been quite a trip for me."

Yuri looked down. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to make it difficult."

"It's not your fault, Tanaka-san," I said quickly. "Believe me, I'm glad I could be of help to you and the others this week."

"Others?"

_Crap! Well, no harm in being general, I think._ "Yeah, the other girls confided in me a bit about some of their worries."

"Is that why you pulled Sayori out that one day and why Natsuki pulled you out to talk to you on Saturday?"

I nodded. "I want to help all of you if I can. You are my students, after all."

She lowered her head and I saw a blush form on her face. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Yuri, where are you sweetie?" Yuki called.

"Ah, over here Mom!" Yuri called out as loudly as she dared.

"We're going to stop by Natsuki's house for a bit and pack up her things. You've been there before, right?"

"Yes."

"Good, because we're going to bring everything to our house. I got a key from Natsuki earlier. Motoyasu volunteered to help us too."

"Alright Mom." She turned to me and bowed. "See you later, Sensei. Thank you again for today."

"Of course. See you later."

She stood and headed out with her mom. I watched her go then returned to my train of thought. _Glowing eyes…related to knowledge of the game…what are the requisites? What do the four of us have in common? Let's see…remembering the previous gameplay. But what caused Sayori and Natsuki to remember?_ A thought occurred to me then. Sayori only remembered because she lived longer than the game said she would. She wasn't even meant to survive to today. For that matter, neither was Natsuki, or rather, not to this time anyway.

"But if that's the case, Yuri would be showing signs of remembering too…so what else…? What am I missing here?"

"Love?"

I looked up to see Monika sitting beside me. "Gah, you're a sneaky ninja."

She giggled. "That's me, your precious ninja." Her smile faded. "What were you thinking about?" I explained my thought process to her. She listened carefully. "I understand what you're getting at, but I have my own theory."

"Oho?" I leaned back and gave her a knowing grin. "Go on, professor."

She gave me a glare, but I saw the amused twinkle in her eye. "Alright. I think they became aware because they got past their own problems. Sayori got past her suicide and her depression is slowly going back to what it was at the beginning of last week and Natsuki just got out of a bad spot with her Dad. The game script is being overridden I think."

"So…what about Yuri?"

Monika looked down and sighed. "She hasn't quite gotten there yet. Remember she hasn't yet confessed her love for the MC yet."

"When do you think that'll take place?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Could be tomorrow, could be next month."

"Or never," I added.

"Oh, I doubt Libitina would let us off the hook that easily," Monika said.

"You're right." I cleared my throat. "So, how was your talk with Natsuki?"

"Worse than the one with Sayori," Monika said, looking downtrodden. "She wouldn't listen to me so she told me to leave. Sayori's talking to her right now, trying to calm her down."

"That sounds like her." I leaned my head against the wall. "I just can't wait for this all to be over and for you all to be safe from this hell."

"Me too." I felt something touch my pinkie finger. I felt a tingling at Monika's discreet and gentle touch. She was leaning against the wall as well, looking exhausted. "I love you Jon," she said softly, "I love you with all my heart. I want to spend all my time with you."

"I love you too, Monika, and I promise once again to make that dream a reality." Her pinkie interlocked with mine. Despite the fact that only recently we'd had a heavy but brief makeout session and we'd cuddled at home, this felt electrifying. Maybe I had a fetish for PDA? "Hey, I'm gonna check in on the two of them, alright?"

"No wait, please stay here for a bit." She sounded desperate.

"Well…alright. Sorry, I'm just worried is all."

"I know, I just need you right now. Besides, Sayori's actually pretty good at this. She can handle it for a while," Monika said softly.

I closed my eyes. "I know." The two of us sat like that, pinkies intertwined for about half an hour.

Finally, the door to Natsuki's room opened and Sayori came out to join us. She sat on my left. "She's asleep right now."

"How's she taking it?" I asked.

"Better than she was when Monika was in the room," Sayori said sadly.

"Hey, don't sound so glum," Monika said.

"She's right," I said. "You did your best to explain the current situation to her, right? Just let her rest and take the time to think about it."

Sayori nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

I smiled. "Let's just wait here for Yuri and her mom to come pick Natsuki up, alright?"

The hallway fell into silence. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. For the first time in a week I thought of my sister. Her smiling visage appeared in my mind's eye. I missed her dearly and wanted to introduce her to Monika as soon as I could. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remembered was being shaken by Monika. "Wake up, Yuri and her mother are back to pick Natsuki up."

I, along with everyone else, walked with Natsuki as she was pushed in a wheelchair down to the entrance. Motoyasu, Yuri and Yuki were waiting. Motoyasu and Natsuki exchanged words, Motoyasu trying to give words of encouragement to the little teenager. Natsuki thanked him and Yuri helped her to the car. We all waved goodbye as the car drove off.

"Okay everyone," Monika said after a few seconds of silence, "that concludes club activities for the day I think. See you all for the second day of the festival tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course!" Sayori said. She went and asked Motoyasu if they could walk home together. To my relief, he said yes. The two headed out, leaving just me and Monika.

"Man, I could use a scalding shower," I said. "I probably smell awful."

Monika giggled. "You're fine. I'll see you there. I need to stop by my house for a bit." So saying, she gave be a very discreet kiss on the cheek before heading off.

By the time I got back to my house, it was dark. As I trudged up the stairs, I saw a figure standing in front of my door. I quickly recognized it as Monika judging from the white bow in her ponytail…_wait_… "Monika?"

She quickly turned, her red eyes glowing malevolently. "Guess again."


	12. Confrontations

All sense of fatigue left me as I got into a fighting stance I didn't know I'd learned. "Libitina," I growled, my own eyes growing hot. "Either leave or I'll make you leave."

Libitina held up her hands. "Whoa whoa, easy there boy, calm down." Her eyes returned to Monika's emerald hue, but Libitina's imitation eyes seemed cold and menacing, nothing like Monika's warmth. Her voice wasn't Monika's, but it was definitely female. "I'm not here to fight, I'm here to talk."

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you," I said through clenched teeth.

Libitina nodded. "Fine, I can appreciate that. Would you prefer that we talk somewhere more public?"

I kept my guard up. "And how do I know that I can trust you?"

"You're just going to have to take my word for it. I just want to talk tonight. There's something I want to discuss with you and you alone." She suddenly floated over me and landed at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you coming or not?"

I sighed and lowered my arms but not my guard. "And where, pray tell, are we going now?"

"The park. It should still be full of people this time of evening." She headed towards the park across from my apartment complex. I followed a good distance away from her. I was impressed at her talent for mimicry. She looked exactly like Monika. It was a bit creepy to see. As we walked, I got lost in thought. _The fact that she is approaching me directly means she just got more desperate. What's her reach in this world, anyway_? "We're here," she said, taking a seat at a bench. "Come join me."

Instead I took a seat at a bench opposite her. "Not as far as I can throw you, remember?"

She chuckled. "Very well, have it your way." She leaned forward and placed her chin on her folded hands. "Listen to me, and listen to me well Jon Price: I have a proposal. One that can certainly benefit the both of us."

I raised an eyebrow. "A proposal? What kind of proposal?" I had a feeling that whatever she suggested wouldn't be good news for anybody.

"The game obviously hasn't been progressing in the same way that it was meant to, or how I've wanted it to. Not this time anyway thanks to you." She actually sounded impressed. "And for that, I have to applaud you." She applauded at that, although the slowness indicated slight sarcasm mixed with an impressed smile.

"Get to the point before I beat it out of you," I said.

"Geez, are you Satou Kazuma now?" Libitina giggled. Hearing her giggle in Monika's voice infuriated me, but I forced myself to keep my cool. It was obvious she wanted me off my guard for something. "But fine. Here's my proposal: I'm willing to give up the fourth one to you."

That caught me off guard. It was obvious she meant Yuri. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"I'm calling bullshit on that," I said. "What's your angle?"

She chuckled almost cutely. "Leave this world with the four of them, but leave me this world and its inhabitants. It's not like they're sapient like us, right?"

I frowned. "What makes you say they aren't sapient?"

She waved her hand. A bunch of holographic screens appeared around us. She stood and motioned me forward. I stood and cautiously walked over, keeping myself a few feet away from her. She grabbed one screen and threw it at me. Catching it, I looked at the words before me. Thanks to my new coding knowledge, I deciphered that I was looking at the character file of a young twenty four year old woman named Sakie. She worked at a convenience store and was going to the local college. One thing I noticed was that instead of a Sapience Level, she only had a Sentience Level which according to the code was at around twenty four. "Only the four girls of the Literature Club have the capacity for true sapience," Libitina said. "Them, and of course me and you. We're special, you and I. We were once human."

"I still am," I said as I tossed the file back. "What's your point in showing me this?"

"Even a dog can be considered sentient, but never sapient." She walked forward, swaying her hips suggestively. "Only humans can be sapient, and now the four members of the club. Probably the result of the game loops." She shrugged and moved closer. "My point is that you can take your forming harem and go, but you should leave the rest of the town to me. It's not like I'd be harming anything truly sapient. Think of them as…lab rats." She pressed herself against me, giving me a seductive look with her bright green eyes. "They shouldn't matter to you. They're just code in a simulated game world, right?" She wrapped her arms around my neck. "We both win here. You get your harem, I get my maze."

In a sense I knew she was right. It wouldn't matter what happened to the town if I got the girls out. But something else just didn't sit right with me. I remembered the conversations I'd had with the teachers and other students, and especially Yuki. Their responses were incredibly genuine. They might not be sapient, but that didn't mean they didn't have the capacity for it. And if I left Libitina in charge of this world, she'd only start the cycle again, I was sure of it. "First off tell me, what's your real angle here? You're obviously plotting something with the repeat of the game. If I had to guess, it would be to escape into the real world, or more specifically, into the world's internet. Cause a worldwide panic, eh? Demand a ransom for its use?"

She reached up and twirled my hair a bit in her hand. "Oh come now, you think my _angle_ as you call it is as dull as that?" I shivered at her touch, but not in the same way I did whenever it was Monika. I was holding back my terror and fear at this monster before me who'd stolen the form of the woman I cared for and loved. "It's not like I can escape this place. The coding surrounding the town keeps me locked up. I know you have a way in, but it's not like I can hijack you and tag along." She moved closer to me, her breath hot on my face. "I'm not as evil as you think, you know."

"Your actions speak louder than your words," I said stoically, not reacting at all to her sudden approach. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Well that's in the past now," she said. "You saved Monika, Sayori and now Natsuki. I know when to quit." She leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "Just say yes and their nightmare can end."

_And whose nightmare begins then,_ I wondered. I suspected she'd just start the process over again with some more characters. _No, the line must be drawn here! This far, and no further_! I walked up and put my hands on Libitina's shoulders. Her breath quickened a bit. Moving closer, I whispered, "Fuck off."

She shoved me away, her face now distorted and cracked, resembling the jumpscare face seen on Monika's face when a player is recording the game in the Eternal Classroom. Her eyes blazed red with fury. "Be very careful how you answer this question, Price-Sensei! Are you sure this is what you want? You're throwing away your only chance to rescue the four girls. If you don't take this chance, I will do everything in my power to stop you!"

"And what about Motoyasu? The teachers? The parents?" I stood as stoically as I could but inside I was quaking.

"They aren't sapient!" She took a breath and her features returned to normal, but her eyes remained red. "I will offer this once more. Will you, accept, my offer?"

_Yep. Desperate_. I closed my eyes and then opened them again. My eyes burned slightly and I knew now that meant my own eyes were glowing with the evidence of my sapience. "My answer is final. Your way would simply repeat the vicious cycle. Your way isn't the way. I will stop you, no matter what it takes. So no. I do not accept your offer."

She launched herself at me more quickly than humanly possible. Her fist caught my chest and I was thrown against a nearby tree. The wind was knocked out of me. Libitina was soon on top of me, gripping my neck. Without even stopping to think, I kicked her square in the chest, sending the fake Monika flying. I got to my feet and held up my fists in a defensive position. She stood and glared at me with pure unadulterated hatred. "I WILL END YOU!"

"You will try," I said. She rushed me, but a hand caught her outstretched arm before it could hit my face. There, eyes glowing that incredibly beautiful green, stood a breathless Monika. My Monika, not this false imposter. Libitina turned and looked angrily at Monika. Despite her breathlessness, I saw a look of fury within Monika's own expression. "You will not harm him!" she growled, throwing Libitina to the ground in a swift move. Monika moved to stand next to me. "If you dare touch him again, I will kill you where you stand," Monika said, and I heard the truth behind those words. Note to self: _never ever piss Monika off again_.

Libitina stood and stared at us with a calm demeanor now, but the rage was all the more visible in her glowing red eyes. "I will make absolutely sure you regret this. Both of you!" She seemed to dissolve into a mist like before and fell into a grate nearby.

"'Make sure you regret this'? What is she, some B-movie bad guy wannabe?" I asked before realizing that I was falling to the ground. A pair of strong feminine hands caught me as I fell to my knees. I must have been tenser than I realized as I took deep breaths. "Thank you…Monika."

She helped me to my feet and we headed slowly towards my apartment, my legs feeling like jelly. The moment we got inside we both collapsed onto the bed. Monika moved and lay her head in my lap. We lay like that for a long time, enjoying the presence of the other. Finally she spoke. "Jon…"

I rubbed her coral hair protectively. "What is it?"

"For the first time in a long time, I don't know what to do."

"Ditto, believe me."

She looked up at me. "When I saw her hugging you earlier, I got so jealous. I could handle seeing the other girls hug you, but when I saw her, it felt like a knife went through my heart. I-"

"I hated every second of that," I said, trying to reassure her. "She was just trying to get a rise out of me."

"My mind knows that, but my heart is still upset." She slowly sat up and sat in my lap, facing me. Her arms went around my neck and I saw her smile sadly. "It hurt seeing that. I've never felt so upset in my life. I just wanted to wring her neck…"

"I understand," I said as I reached over to cup her cheek in my hand. "Believe me, I do."

She lay her head on my chest. "Just…hold me for a bit while I sort out my emotions."

I complied immediately and I felt Monika visibly relax. Once again we fell into silence, the only sound being our breathing and the clock.

"In some ways," she said after a half hour, "it's worse than being alone in the void. Being berated by Natsuki and Sayori that is. But…I do deserve it."

_Whoa, where did that come from?_ "Monika? You okay?"

"I'm sorry, I let my mind wander to what happened earlier. Can we…talk about that?"

"Of course."

"Then tell me, am I worthy of their forgiveness?"

As much as I wanted to say she didn't deserve the berating, I had to agree with the others. Monika had done some screwed up things to her friends, but I'd forgiven her completely already. "Monika…you did kill them over and over again. I know you can appreciate their thoughts on the matter. But," I added quickly, seeing her expression change to one of betrayal, "I know that they care too deeply about you to throw away a friendship over that. Natsuki might need a bit more convincing, but I know she doesn't want to lose the safe place you've made the clubroom for her. As for Sayori…you are the big sister she never had, after all. Her emotions are all over the place right now, I'm sure. If and when Yuri figures it out, I think she'll be the most mature about it, but that's just a theory. Just give them time."

"I know…I just…" I let her gather her thoughts. "I don't want to lose them. They are my friends. I've done such horrible things, but I want them in my life. I don't want to kill anymore."

"And you won't have to."

She giggled a bit. "You know just what to say."

I rubbed her head playfully. "Just rest. We have a lot more to do, alright?"

She held me tighter, like I was a lifeguard and she was sinking in a stormy sea. "I'm scared, but I know we can do this."

"And we will," I said.

We held each other for a little while longer before Monika spoke again. "Do you think she'll act tonight against Yuri?"

"I doubt it," I said, "but we should keep an eye on her anyway."

"Geez, do you two ever stop cuddling?" a familiar voice said with a giggle. Sayori stood there, hands on her hips and grinning knowingly.

"Sayori? Wha-?"

"I wanted to talk to you guys," she said, sitting at the table.

Monika and I untangled ourselves from each other and sat next to Sayori. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"It's about…well about something. It's more of a question actually. I know you're from reality, Jon, and Monika, Natsuki and myself are truly sapient. But what is Motoyasu? He's not being controlled by a player anymore, so what is he?"

I'd had similar thoughts as well. I'd spent little time thinking about Motoyasu, probably not a good idea. "You know, I've been so busy focusing on saving all of you I kind of forgot about him. Sayori, you've probably hung out with him more than I have during this past week. How has he acted?"

"And be as detailed as you can," Monika said. "Any deviation from the script, significant deviation I mean."

"You mean like how he spent time with every one of us?" Sayori asked.

"That was one of the things I noticed too. Well, we I mean," I said, indicating Monika and myself. "I don't know what to make of it. But what else? Anything he might have said or did during your walks home?"

Sayori furled her brow. "I don't know…"

"The MC was designed to be bland," I said, "and as such completely relatable to the player. He's an otaku with a love of games and manga. He even has a generic appearance. He joined the club to try to pursue the girls. But now…he's a person, I think. Seriously, we should have discussed him long ago, Monika."

She nodded grimly. "There's definitely something different about him."

"I can't think of anything different about him," Sayori said, "but since my memories of him are all fake, it's hard to tell."

"What memories do you have of him? Any specifics that're new?" I asked.

She thought hard. "I remember…one time that our families went to the beach together. We spent a weekend there. Oh there's another! Our families went to Tokyo for a week one summer."

"Lemme guess, he wanted to go to Akihabara?" I said, a wry smile appearing on my face.

Sayori giggled. "He dragged me around. I'd never seen him more alive."

"I know the feeling. I've been to the real Akihabara. It's definitely a fun place to get lost in."

Monika began to pout a bit. "You guys…"

"Right, sorry." I cleared my throat. "So it seems that your memories are being expanded upon like they did with Monika," I told Sayori. I explained about her parents being dead and her grandmother paying for the house so she could live in it. "I've thought a bit about the reason this world seems to have expanded so exponentially." I reexplained to Sayori what had happened when I first arrived and how the world expanded when I first stepped outside the apartment. "I wonder if my being from reality has anything to do with it, or if the people who managed to upload my entire being had something to do with it."

"I feel like it's probably a mixture of both," Monika said. "Judging from what you told me about your reality, the technology for complete digitalization is impossible."

"Yeah," I replied. "Mind uploading is theoretically possible, but uploading an entire body is only in the realm of science fiction."

"Don't forget Libitina," Monika said.

"There is her, yes," I said. When Sayori gave us a puzzled look, we explained as quickly as we could who and what Libitina was according to my mysterious employers.

"That's…a lot to digest," Sayori said. "Can we just focus on Motoyasu?"

"One problem at a time, yeah let's get back on topic," I said. "I've looked at his character file a bit. He doesn't seem any different than the rest of you. For all intents and purposes, he's just another AI, albeit not sapient yet." I steepled my fingers thoughtfully. "But the fact that he was the conduit for the player can't be ignored."

"Agreed," Monika said.

"And what happens if he begins to realize he's a protagonist?" Sayori asked.

Ever since I'd come to this world, I hadn't been this tense. The conversation we were having dealt with things I hadn't thought about. _No, what I didn't want to think about_. I was so preoccupied with saving the girls that I'd put all else out of my mind.

"Jon?"

Monika's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Ah sorry. Well, I can only guess what Motoyasu would do. He was basically a puppet, so if he remembers not being in control, he might snap. No, he _would_ snap. And he'd come straight for Monika."

Silence filled my apartment as the two girls took the time to process this. "That…makes sense," Monika said. Sayori simply remained silent. I wondered what her thoughts were on the subject but decided not to press her.

"I do know he's real now, though," I said. "He even has a real name, even if his initials spell out MC. He does seem to be focusing on the other three girls as he did in the game."

"Only this time, my petty jealousy isn't getting in the way," Monika said, smiling sweetly at me.

"Exactly," I said, smiling back. "Anyway, we need to keep him in the dark as much as possible. He's a dangerous element, even if he doesn't realize it. Just keep acting normal."

"Okay…" Sayori didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but I didn't know what else could be done about it. I decided I'd spend more time thinking about this. "So…can I stay over again tonight? When I was here last night, I felt safer."

_I'm turning into a DILF, damn it! Even if I look like my twenty-one year old self_. "Um, of course."

Monika helped Sayori rearrange the furniture so she could lie on the floor. I moved my laptop over to a corner. Sayori was asleep in mere seconds. Monika moved to my bed and lay down. "Aren't you coming to bed, Jon?" she asked.

"Huh? I will in a little while. There was something I wanted to try."

She sat up and motioned for me to sit next to her. "Can I watch?"

"I don't see why not?" I sat next to her. "I'm not sure how long this'll take."

"I'll wait. I want to see you work." She leaned against my shoulder. Chuckling, I pulled up some schematics on my laptop I'd downloaded earlier before the real-world internet went down. I used the code to create each component of the device I wanted to create and assembled them in the order described in the instructions. After about an hour, I held a metal cylindrical object in my hands. Monika had by this time fallen asleep. I lay her down and put the covers over her before heading outside as quietly as I could.

Heading to the park I found a secluded part surrounded by thick trees but with enough room to try my experiment. I held the cylinder in my hands carefully. "Fingers crossed," I said as I pressed the activation stud. A green blade flashed into existence, humming with a familiar sound. Experimentally I waved the blade around. The hum increased. I swung the blade fast and even sliced off a few branches. They fell to the ground, the cuts clean and burnt. I pressed the stud again and the familiar deactivation hiss filled the air. I looked up at the sky, now full of stars. "Just you wait, Libitina…I will stop you."

* * *

**I'm just having a nerdy old time here! Have fun with this next chapter!**

**morbiusgreen**


	13. Festival: Second Day

"A lightsaber? What's that?" Monika asked me the next morning over breakfast. Monika had made a more traditional Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and grilled fish.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age," I quoted. "To be more specific, it's a blade of magnetically contained plasma. I made it to test a theory of mine."

"What theory?" Sayori asked.

"This world, the one we're inhabiting now, seems to more closely resemble my reality now than it did when it was just a screwed up visual novel. There are physical laws like gravity and magentism. But we're all still a bunch of code as is the world. I wanted to see if I could bend the rules a bit so I created something impossible in reality but completely possible in a simulation." I held up the lightsaber hilt. I'd designed it based off of a dueling blade I'd once bought back in the real world. "And I created this." I activated the green blade and held it aloft. The girls stared at it a bit in awe and a bit of fear before I shut it off. "We do need to arm ourselves as best we can too."

"Can you…make me one too?" Monika asked.

"Oooh ooh me too!" Sayori grinned.

"Geez, I might as well make one for everyone in the club," I said with a chuckle. "But alright, I'll make some more later today after work."

As per the usual, the girls left before me. I left a little while later and headed to school. On an impulse, I decided to take my newly made lightsaber with me. I stuck it in my bag and headed out.

The school festival was still in full swing. Today the clubs weren't doing anything. I was told that the first day was mostly for clubs to do their own thing, and that the second day was for the classes to take the spotlight. As I entered the teacher's room, all conversation stopped. I suddenly felt many eyes on me. "Um…good morning," I said, unsure what was going on.

Ito-Sensei stepped forward. "Jon-Sensei, are you okay? We didn't expect you to be here today."

"What, why wouldn't I-Ooooh." _The incident with Natsuki's father yesterday_.

"No one would have thought any less of you if you'd stayed home," another teacher, an elderly gentleman, said with a kindly smile.

"If you want to go home, you can," Ito-Sensei said.

"Hey, it's okay," I said, "I'll be fine I promise."

"Are you sure?" Ito-Sensei asked.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll head home if I start feeling bad," I said reassuringly.

Everyone seemed to be reassured by that. A few of them even told me that if I wanted to talk about what had happened the day before they were willing to listen. Thanking them, I began to walk through the school. _See Libitina? If this isn't a testament to the potential sapience of these people, I don't know what is!_

The first class I visited was Monika's. I'd promised I'd visit hers first before I left. As a matter of fact, the class was performing a short version of Pride and Prejudice. Monika had the role of Elizabeth Bennett. I felt a stab of jealousy whenever she had a scene with the student playing Darcy, but I had to admit her acting abilities were superb. She really was the perfect student. I applauded with the rest as the actors took a bow.

"What did you think, Sensei?" She asked me, hands behind her back and leaning forward expectantly.

"You were fantastic," I said honestly. "You portrayed Elizabeth so perfectly Jane Austen would be proud. The rest of your class did well too, but you were definitely the star." I said that quietly so no one else heard.

She giggled. "I've never performed before, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe I should think about a career in theater."

"You could be anything you wanted," I said, a bit envious of her talents.

"Aww, thanks Sensei."

"Anyway, break a leg for the rest of your performances."

She looked confused. "Why would I hurt my leg?"

"It's a saying in theater. There's a superstition among some actors that saying 'Good luck' will cause something bad to happen, so they say 'Break a leg' instead."

She nodded, still a bit confused. "Well, I'll take what you said as a compliment, Sensei."

"Good. Well, I'm going to see what the other classes are doing."

She nodded. "Check on Natsuki and Yuki first."

"Sounds like a plan."

So saying she blew me a very subtle kiss and skipped off to talk to her fellow classmates. I smiled at how happy she seemed. Turning I headed out towards the nearer classroom of the two. As it turned out, the classroom I got to was Yuri's. Her class had set up a few fortune telling booths. Yuri was standing to the side watching with a faint smile on her face. She saw me and walked over. "Hey, Sensei."

"Hey there, Tanaka-san. Whose idea was this?"

Yuri fidgeted. "The majority of the class. I wanted to do some displays on famous authors and books, but I guess the others thought that was boring."

"I certainly don't think that idea is boring," I said with a smile. "I'd have loved to see that."

She looked away, playing with her hair nervously. "Ah, you think so?"

"Yep!" I lowered my voice. "On another note, how's Natsuki adjusting to life in your home?"

She looked around a bit then gestured for me to follow her. We went out of the classroom and she stood against the wall. I joined her. "I honestly don't know," Yuri said. "She locked herself in her room last night and I heard her crying for most of the evening. I tried to talk to her but she told me to leave her alone…"

"I see." _Natsuki must still be trying to come to terms with her realization yesterday_. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

Yuri flinched a bit. "N-no, why would I be-?" She sighed. "Actually, I am. I heard her saying some things that had me worried. Stuff about how she wasn't real and how she hated Monika. Did something happen between her and the president?"

I looked up at the ceiling. "It's pretty complicated. I don't know much of the details myself. I'll have a talk with her later. I want her to be healthy again, I want all of you to be happy and healthy as well."

Yuri unconsciously rubbed her arms. "That makes me happy to hear, Sensei."

"Speaking of that, how are you doing with your…you know?"

She blushed a bit. "Mom and I have had a lot of talks since that day. She thinks it's her fault, no matter how many times I try and assure her it's not."

"Yeah, parents are funny that way sometimes," I said, remembering my own mother's sorrow when she found me bleeding out during my suicide attempt. "My mom was like that too, and my sister. It took them a while to accept they weren't to blame."

Yuri nodded somberly. "It hurts, seeing mom blaming herself."

"Don't worry too much. Just keep assuring her that you love and appreciate her."

"I will, Sensei."

"Well then," I said, stretching, "Can I have my fortune told, Tanaka-san?"

Yuri giggled. "Of course. Can I see your palm?"

"Oooh, palm reading!" I chuckled but offered her my palm.

She took it and ran her finger over the lines on my palm. "Let's see…" she focused hard on my hand. The look in her eyes was intense, reminding me of how she was whenever she read in the clubroom. "Well, you're definitely going to live a long time," she said after a while. "Would you like your immediate future or a more intense reading into your far future?"

"Start with the immediate future," I said.

"Hmm…" she ran her finger over my palms again. "Let's see…" She looked at a small handbook she pulled out of her pocket. "According to this…love for you will come from the most unlikely of sources. Be on the lookout, for today your love will find you."

_Aww, that's sweet, but my love found me long ago_. "Well, that's certainly a good fortune."

"Just beware of…lemme see…deceivers."

_Hmm, ominous_. "I'll keep my eye out."

She giggled and released my palm. "That's what this guidebook says, anyway. I'm sure there are different interpretations. I just found this one at the bookstore earlier this morning."

"Well, thank you for reading my palm." I smiled. "You make an excellent fortune teller."

She blushed. "Th-thank you Sen-"

"Hey Yuri, it's your turn to take over a booth!" a boy called out from the classroom.

"Ah, sorry!" she said, startled. "See you later, Sensei." And with that, she headed back into her classroom.

Next, I headed to Natsuki's classroom. Her class was doing a cooking class. Natsuki was one of the teachers, instructing visiting students on how to bake. I saw a bandage wrapped snugly around her head. As I watched her teach the others, she seemed normal to me, but there was something off about her behavior. I tried to keep myself a bit hidden so as to keep an eye on her, but about ten minutes after I arrived she saw me. She told one of her classmates something and walked straight to me. "What is it, _Sensei_?" Her emphasis on my title almost dripped with venom.

"Kobayashi-san, I was just checking up on you."

She glared up at me, pink eyes glowing. "I don't have anything to say to someone sleeping with the enemy," she hissed.

I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "First of all, I'm not sleeping with the enemy in the sense you mean. Take a break and walk with me for a bit."

"Whatever you can say, you can say to my friends about," she growled.

"Fine. Let's at least sit down."

She sat at one of the benches in the hallways and I sat next to her. "You have two minutes."

_Jesus, this girl's harsh_. Then again, I couldn't blame her. Remembering all the times she was deleted and witnessing Yuri's decaying body would have that affect on anyone. "I know you're angry at Nakamura," I said softly, "and I completely understand. She did some pretty messed up things to the rest of you. She altered the negative traits of you and the others, she deleted and drove the others to kill themselves and she may have been the one to change your father into a strict one to just plain abusive."

"You're not doing a good job of convincing me to forgive her," Natsuki spat.

Because I know it'll take a lot for someone like you to forgive her. "I don't expect you to forgive her right away," I said. "I still have a hard time forgiving my own father for what he did to my family and me. All I really can do is just understand that he was flawed in many different ways. Nakamura's the same way. She's got problems just like the rest of you. And I don't just mean the problems this world gave her, dead parents and living alone and all. I mean the problems the script gave to her. What would you have done differently if you realized you were only a character in a visual novel? She didn't see you as sapient people at the time. I've had to convince her this time around that isn't the case."

Natsuki hit her fist on the bench. A few passing students looked over concerned. "I never said I couldn't understand!" she nearly shouted. Noticing the glances we were getting, her face flushed and she looked down. "I just…wish she'd told us."

"Would you react any differently than you're acting now?" I asked calmly.

She looked down. "Yes…I would have."

"How so?"

She looked up at me, tears of frustration pouring down her cheeks. "I'd have listened to her! I'd have-!" she stopped again and looked away, wiping tears from her eyes. "Damn you…you're right."

"I'm not saying you need to forgive her, but listen to this. Monika is hurting so much. She's scared and insecure about how you all will react. Did Suzuki-san tell you how she reacted?"

Natsuki nodded. "How can she forgive what Monika did so easily? I wish I had an ounce of her strength…"

_I knew it! Natsuki wants to forgive Monika badly, but she's too stubborn_. "First of all, Suzuki hasn't completely forgiven Nakamura yet. However, she's set aside those differences to deal with a more immediate threat."

Natsuki's eyes went wide. "A threat? What threat?"

I looked at my watch. "Oops, two minutes is up." I stood and stretched. "You should head back to-"

"You're not getting off the hook that easily," Natsuki said, pulling on my sleeve hard. "What's so immediate?" Her eyes were blazing with anger and now fear, but the glow had vanished.

"I can't discuss it here," I said. "However, you do need to know now, since you're self-aware and can use the console. I'd say come over to my place, but Nakamura and Suzuki have already pretty much taken over."

To my surprise, Natsuki giggled then full on laughed. I was relieved to see her having fun, even if it was at my expense. "Just remember how small I am," she giggled after a minute. "I can fit snugly anywhere."

I sighed again. _This is getting out of hand. Now there are **three** of them!_ "Fine. Here." I wrote down my address. "But you can't stay the night. I'm sure Yuri would miss hanging out with you."

Natsuki put the paper in her pocket. "I'll just tell her I'm going over to Monika's for a little while."

"Good idea." I stood. "Thank you for at least listening to me."

She nodded and stood as well. "See you later, Sensei." And with that, she headed back inside. She seemed to have a bit more pep in her step. Before I headed down, she ran over to me again, holding up a cupcake. "Here."

"What's this for?" I asked.

"You didn't get one on your first day in the club," she said, frowning in a remarkable tsundere frown. "So take it!"

Surprised, I took the cupcake. She looked at me expectantly, and I realized she wanted my opinion. I took a bite. The cupcake was even better than I had anticipated. It was vanilla flavored with green frosting. "Thank you. How'd you know I liked green."

Natsuki grinned, leaned in and whispered, "You like Monika's eyes, dontcha?" Giggling she ran back into her class room before I could reply. _Cheeky brat_.

My next stop was Sayori's classroom. Her class was doing a neko maid café. Sayori immediately saw me and bounded over, her frilly maid outfit bobbing as she did. "Sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Just making the rounds," I said. "Whose idea was this?"

"Ahaha, it was mine," Sayori said, pressing her fingers together.

"Really?"

"Yeah. According to my memories, I got the idea from a discussion I had with Motoyasu. He seemed to be excited to see that, so I thought I'd suggest it. Guess people liked it."

"You do look cute in that," I said.

She giggled and blushed. "Hehe, thanks Sensei. Would you like something?" She handed me a menu and led me to a desk.

"Guess I have no choice, do I?" I smiled and looked over the menu. "I'll have…the café nyau lait."

"Coming right up!" She headed towards where the other students were making the drinks and soon I had a hot cup of coffee with some cream art on it. "Here you go, Sensei." She sat across from me and grinned widely at me, almost expectantly. I took a sip.

"Wow, this is amazing," I said truthfully.

"Heeheehee," Sayori said, grinning widely. "I'm glad."

I took another sip. "By the way," I said, "Kobayashi's going to come over later today. We need to bring her up to date on Project Shadow and Libitina."

Sayori's smile faltered a bit. "Are you sure?" she asked. "She's still pissed at Monika. And to be honest, I'm still a bit cautious."

"I talked with her earlier. She knows something is immediately wrong, but I didn't tell her what. We need to be ready for when she strikes again."

Sayori sighed and leaned on one hand. That action reminded me a lot on the position she had in the Just Sayori mod. "Alright Sensei, I trust you. By the way, how's Yuri doing?"

"She doesn't seem all that different yet," and I told her about my encounter with her.

"That's good, I guess."

"I'm still going to keep an eye on her," I said.

"Me too. I don't want to lose anyone."

I finished my beverage. "That was delicious," I said as I stood.

Sayori's smile returned as she took my cup. "Thanks! See you later, Sensei!"

My last stop was Motoyasu's class. They'd actually set up an okonomiyaki stand outside along with some of the other stands some other classes had done. Motoyasu was one of the cooks on duty when I arrived. When he saw me, he bowed politely. "Hello, Price-Sensei."

"Chiba-san, how's the stand doing?" I asked.

"Pretty well," he said, sounding a bit bored.

"Whose idea was this?" I asked curiously.

"Mine!" Mei Kisaki, the class representative for Motoyasu's class, said from behind a curtain. "Hello, Jon-Sensei!"

"Hello, Kisaki-san," I said, smiling at her warmly. Mei Kisaki was around an inch shorter than I was, with brown hair, medium length black hair and a wide smile. She was one of the smarter students in the school. I'd been told she was normally in the top ten scoring students in her year and very involved in her own club, the Calligraphy Club. She seemed to me like a mixture of Monika and Sayori, bubbly and kind but also incredibly responsible. "I'm glad your stand is going well."

"Me too," she said. "Would you like some?"

"No, I'm not hungry," I said with a chuckle. "Thank you though."

"Hey, um, Price-Sensei? Can I talk to you?" Motoyasu looked at me hopefully.

_Hmm, this is unexpected_. "Sure, of course! What's on your mind?"

"Not here," he said. "Kisaki-san, can I get off my shift a bit early?"

"Of course, Chiba-san! See you later!"

Motoyasu led me to the side of the school. "I'm sorry for asking you to meet me like this," he said. _Geez, it sounds like he's about to confess to me_.

"No, it's no trouble," I said. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, I…" he cleared his throat and faced me. "Do you have any experience with crushes?"

_Red alert! Red alert! Full stop, Scotty!_ "Sure, I've had a few," I said, maintaining my composure.

"There's…this girl I like. I think I like her anyway. She's perfect in every way. She's kind and supportive of everyone."

_Sounds like Sayori, but no assumptions_. "Whenever you're with her, does your heart race?" I asked. "Do you find yourself unable to approach them sometimes out of nervousness? Do you try and impress them?"

"Yes, to all of them," he said. "I've had this crush since last year, and I can't stop thinking about her."

"Have you told her?" I asked, heart sinking as my assumptions began to run wild. _Calm down, Jon_.

"N-no way! She'd not be interested in a loser like me! She's way out of my league."

I don't want to ask, but… "Can I ask who it is?"

He looked down nervously. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth and said the last name I wanted to come out of his mouth. "Monika."

* * *

**Dun dun duuuun! Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Shadow in the Code, playing at this theater next time!**

**morbiusgreen**


	14. Second Confessions

"Nakamura-san?" My heart sank and I immediately felt jealousy flow through me, but I suppressed it. "Well, I'm not surprised," I said with a forced chuckle. "I'd probably have a crush on her if I were ten years younger."

Motoyasu nodded. "I…wanted to ask for your advice."

"Oh? On what?" My heart rate increased exponentially.

"How do I confess my feelings to her?" He sounded almost desperate.

"Okay first of all, calm down," I said. _I need to be mature about this…_ "First of all, have you interacted with her much?"

He lowered his head. "No…"

"Well, how about you start with that?" _Wait, what am I saying?!_

"You think she'd talk to a loser like me?"

Despite my jealousy I did feel bad for this guy. He sounded as if he had some insecurity issues. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't call yourself a loser," I said reassuringly. "I can tell you're not a loser. Sure, you may like manga and games, but so do I. And I'm not a loser, am I?"

He shook his head. "No…"

"Exactly. Your interests are your own. There's nothing wrong with that. My first girlfriend liked me, and I had some differing interests than her." _Stop it stop it stop it!_

"But-"

"No buts, Chiba-san. And stop doubting yourself." I smiled. "Let me let you in on a little advice my mom once told me. Women like a man who is more confident in himself, but not to the point of being prideful. There's a fine balance there. You notice how Tanaka-san speaks whenever she rambles on about her interests? Her shy persona completely changes. She really enjoys talking about her interests and she really likes it when people are genuinely interested in listening to her. I bet you're the same when it comes to your hobbies. Seeing someone enthusiastic about something they really enjoy is a big turn-on."

"So…should I talk to Monika about my hobbies?"

"If she brings it up, sure. But be sure to also listen and pay attention to her as well. You might come off as boastful if you say you're a visual novel master or a GM for your local D&D group over and over again."

"Is it possible to learn this technique?" he asked.

I couldn't resist. "Not from a teacher. Life is the best teacher we can have." I leaned forward. "But don't tell anyone or else I'd be out of a job," I whispered.

Motoyasu chuckled. "I swear."

"Is there anything else you want to ask?" _Please say no, please say no!_

"Do…you think Monika's seeing anyone?"

_Damn it!_ "I wouldn't know. I just got here last week, so if she's with someone I wouldn't know."

He bowed. "Thank you, Price-Sensei." He headed away, with a bit more of a pep in his step.

As soon as he was gone, I leaned against the wall and slid down to a sitting position. My heart was racing and my head felt like it was spinning. I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes, trying to calm down. _Even if he does confess, she'll turn him down…right?_ The moment I felt doubt, I immediately hated myself. I couldn't think that about Monika. I trusted her too much. _No, she'd never do that. I refuse to doubt_! I leaned back against the building, closing my eyes. I just…needed a rest.

"Sensei?"

I jumped at the startled voice. Looking up I saw that it was Mei. "Kisaki-san?"

"So there you are! The Literature Club members are looking for you," she said. "The festival's almost over, you know."

"Wait, it is?!" I looked at my phone and sure enough it was mid-afternoon. "Damn! I fell asleep!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mei asked me. "After what happened yesterday-"

"Yeah, I guess I'm not as okay as I thought," I said. "Probably just exhausted." I stood and brushed myself off. "Thank you for waking me, Kisaki-san."

"No problem, Sensei!" With that she headed back to her booth. I headed back to the school.

When I reached the clubroom, Yuri was the only one there. She looked up and saw me. Her expression brightened. "Sensei! Good to see you!"

"Hey there, Tanaka-san. Where's everyone else?"

"Looking for you. I stayed behind in case you came back." She went back to reading. I sat a few desks from her and looked at the internet on my phone. When I next looked up, she'd moved to the desk next to me.

"Tanaka-san? Didn't you message the others?"

She looked startled. "Ah, um, not yet. I wanted to talk to you." She put down her book and stood.

I smiled. "Sure, what about?"

She played with her hair nervously. "I have something I want to tell you." More alarms rang in my head.. "I want you to know how much you mean to me, Sensei."

_Oh shit! For real?! It's too soon!_ "What do you mean?" I stood cautiously and stepped back a bit.

She looked away, blushing. "Ever since you've come to school, you've helped me so much. Not just me, but the others too. I've never met such a kind person like you and…I…" She looked up at me suddenly, her eyes wide. A demented smile formed on her face. She stepped forward, her attention completely on me. "I'm addicted to you, Sensei! I can't focus on anything else anymore. I feel like I'll die if I'm not breathing the same air as you! Damn it, I'm madly in love with you! I doubt anyone cares about you as much as I do!"

_Ooooh boy. She's cracked. She's gone nuts_. "Tanaka-san, are you alright?"

"I've never felt this good!" She grinned wildly. "You're a part of my thoughts every day! Ever since you became our advisor, you've never left my mind and your talk to me clinched it!" She ran over and pressed her chest against mine, her ample bosom soft and alluring. It was so sudden that I was taken off guard. Despite my fear, I became slightly aroused. She reached over and caressed my cheek. "I can't be without you anymore…I just want to crawl inside you!" She was panting heavily now, clearly fully aroused.

"Tanaka-san-"

"Tell me…Sensei…Tell me you want to be my lover. Do you accept my confession?" Her eyes were staring deeply into mine. Pleading, glistening…_glowing_!

I went over the options in my head. _What do I do? How do I stop the script from killing her? _Slowly, cautiously, I wrapped my arms around her. Her expression brightened in sheer joy as she wrapped her arms around mine. _I hope you can forgive me…Yuri_. Leaning my head back, I headbutted her as hard as I could. While she was reeling, I hit her square in the jaw. She went limp and stumbled back, collapsing on the floor. I immediately looked around in her coat pocket and removed a large knife. It was a simple knife, easy to miss. I sent a message to Monika, telling her to meet me in the clubroom immediately because Yuri had started becoming self-aware.

Monika threw the door open nearly seconds later. Sayori and Natsuki followed close behind. "What the hell happened?!" Natsuki said.

"It's a long story," I said. I held up the knife. "Suffice to say, she's in the state of mind she normally is at the end of Act Two. I had to knock her out before she did any harm to herself." I looked at Natsuki. "Hey, do you have Yuki's number?"

"Um…yeah? She gave it to me last night, why?"

"I need you to call her," I said. "Tell her that you and Yuri are going over to Monika's house with Sayori for a girls night or something. We need to all talk."

As Natsuki stepped out to make the call, Sayori asked "Where are we going actually?"

"My place is too small," I said. "We really should go to Monika's-"

"No," Sayori said. "I think we should go to your place, Sensei. I don't know why, but whenever I'm there the rainclouds decrease by a lot."

"I agree with Sayori," Monika said. "It's the safest place right now."

"And just how exactly are we going to carry her to my house?" I asked.

"I can make her invisible to others," Monika said.

"Okay, but she'll still need to be carried. It'll look weird if I'm just carrying a bunch of air," I said.

The room fell into silence. "What if we called a taxi?" Sayori suggested. "We can all go to your house from there."

"I mean, I guess that's okay," Monika said. "I'll make the call now." She pulled out her cell and called a taxi. When she was done, she walked over to us. "I'll take her outside. Sensei, meet you there?"

"Sure."

Monika easily hoisted Yuri onto her back and headed out. Natsuki came back in a few moments later. Sayori and I explained what was happening. "Ugh…this is so frustrating," she said. "But anyway, I should go buy some things at the store."

"What? Why?"

"For dinner, of course!" Natsuki grinned.

"Alright, here." Reaching into my wallet I handed her twenty thousand yen. "Use my money."

Natsuki's eyes widened. "This is…way too much Sensei." She tried to push my hand away but I grabbed her hand and placed the bills in her hand.

"I insist. Use some of that money to get yourself something too. Oh and also, just a reminder that Nakamura's a vegetarian, so keep that in mind."

Begrudgingly she took the money and put it in her blazer pocket. "Fine…"

"I'll help carry the groceries!" Sayori said.

"You just want me to buy you some snacks, don't you?" Natsuki said as the two left. I walked out and headed down to the teacher's room.

"Jon-Sensei, where were you?" Ito-Sensei asked immediately after I entered the room. "The members of your club were looking for you."

"Yeah, I found them. I, well…" I looked down a bit sheepishly. "I think you were right, Ito-Sensei. Maybe I'm not quite back to normal. I fell asleep leaning against the school wall earlier today."

She put her hands on her hips. "I told you it was okay to go back home," she said sternly. "Why don't you take the rest of the day and go back home?"

"I…was actually going to ask if I could," I said, grateful. "I'll feel better by tomorrow."

"If you don't it's okay if you take your time," one of the other teachers said.

"Thank you all. I'll see you tomorrow, I hope."

"See you when you get better," Ito-Sensei said.

I headed home slowly, the events of the day playing around in my mind, especially my conversation with Motoyasu. I played it over and over in my head, hoping I did my duty as a teacher to give him solid advice. When I reached my place, Monika was already there sitting at the table as she stared off into space. I assumed she was looking at the code. Yuri was lying in bed, still unconscious and now dressed in some of my clothes. I was just glad Yuri and I were the same height. I quietly changed and went to sit next to Monika. As I did so, a large holographic screen popped into my vision. Thanks to my newly found knowledge of coding and the few nights of Monika's tutelage, I was able to tell that this was Yuri's character file. It appeared as if her possessive characteristic had skyrocketed to dangerous levels, but as I watched, they began to slowly decrease.

"Ah! Oh Jon, it's you," Monika said, jumping when I put an arm around her.

"Who were you expecting, Motoyasu?" I asked. _Whoa, where did that come from_?

"Huh, why would I expect him?" Monika looked at me, then at the screen again. "Not again…it's another transfer of negative traits."

Looking back at the screen I saw Yuri's possessive trait decreasing at a faster rate. I forced myself to release Monika. "This is seriously getting annoying," I said. In that moment, I wanted Monika all to myself. I wanted to-_Oh God, those thoughts are disgusting_! I turned and hit my head on the table hard. "Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Jon?!"

I stopped and tried to calm down. Taking deep breaths, the invasive and possessive thoughts slowly decreased to the back of my mind. "Sorry, I just had some very disgusting thoughts…about you."

"They were mimicking Yuri's own feelings for the MC, weren't they?" She sounded sad. "I feel so helpless sometimes. I wish I could just stop this. Stop this transfer. I can see how this is completely destroying you…and it hurts to see."

"Imagine how I feel…I just want it to stop, but I know I have to keep fighting. My mission isn't over yet, I don't think."

Monika looked at me curiously. "Why do you say that?"

"I'll explain when the others arrive."

Monika looked down at her feet. I saw her hands were trembling. "Jon…what did Yuri tell you earlier?"

I hid nothing from her, telling her about how she'd confessed her love to me. Her hands turned into fists and it seemed as if she was having a hard time holding in her jealousy. I knew how she felt. I felt similarly about Motoyasu. "…and then you guys arrived," I concluded.

Monika was holding her arms by now, her teeth clenched. "I see…"

"Monika? Are you-?"

She looked up at me, a look of pure anger spread across her face. However, I knew anger was only a secondary emotion so I assumed she was jealous or sad. Her eyes were glowing a bright green. "How dare she…?" I'd never seen Monika so upset. She looked at Yuri with a murderous rage. "How dare she?!" She punched the ground in anger and she seemed to deflate. "No…how dare I…?"

I wrapped my arms around her. She clung to me tightly. "Shhh…I'm here now."

"I acted poorly just now…I…"

"I understand how you feel. I get jealous too. I got jealous recently, actually."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed. "I'll explain when everyone's here and awake." I looked over at Yuri who was still asleep in my bed. "I didn't think I hit her that hard…"

"I think she's still in shock," Monika said.

At that moment the door to my place opened. "Hey everyone! We're here!" Natsuki called out.

It was at that moment that Yuri stirred. She groaned as she opened her eyes. She sat up, holding her head. "Ow…that hurt."

"Yuri?" Sayori walked in and headed straight for the bed. "Are you okay?"

"I…think so. My head and my jaw hurt."

"Natsuki, there's an ice pack in my freezer," I said, "Could you toss it to me?"

Noticing me for the first time, Yuri looked at me. "S-Sensei?! What are you doing in…your room?" She looked around and I guess she realized this was my place somehow.

Natsuki tossed me the ice pack and I gave it to Yuri, who pressed it against her forehead. She blushed. "Thanks Sensei."

"Yuri, bear with me on this. What is Doki Doki Literature Club?" Monika asked.

"Huh? Um, it's a visual novel that…oh God." She held her head and her eyes began to glow once again.

Sayori hugged Yuri instantly. "Let the memories come," Sayori said. "I know they're painful, but you need to remember them…"

The next few minutes were painful to watch. Yuri screamed as she remembered, clutching her stomach and chest as, presumably, she remembered her self-immolation millions of times over. Finally, however, she calmed down and was just reduced to soft sobs. After a while, she stopped. She wiped her tears with some tissues, then turned to face me. "Sensei…I'm sorry." She bowed. "I acted inappropriately towards you earlier." She turned to Monika and bowed as well. "Monika…I'm sorry too…for confessing to your boyfriend…"

I'd never seen Monika's jaw drop before, but it was a new sight. "How…?"

"How did I know?" She chuckled, but I sensed sadness in that chuckle. "Monika, it was obvious. You'd show Sensei, no, you'd show Jon your poem first and would talk with him frequently. I also caught your glances at each other."

_And here I thought we were being subtle_. Monika and I blushed fiercely. "I…see…" Monika said, embarrassed.

"I understand why you like him, though," Yuri said. "He's very compassionate, loves his students and is very eager to help. I guess that, along with a few other reasons, is why I fell…" Yuri broke down again, only this time Monika walked over and hugged her.

"Yuri, shhh, don't cry," she begged. "I can't be mad at you for your feelings."

After a while the two broke the hug. From the kitchen I could hear Natsuki chopping vegetables. Sayori was simply watching the exchange with happy tears in her eyes. After this, I cleared my throat. "Okay everyone! Let's talk about lighter things for a bit, or I could read something aloud for everyone."

"That sounds like fun!" Sayori said. She looked over at my bookshelf and perused my collection. "What about this one?" She tossed me The Horse and his Boy.

Catching it, I stood and headed towards the bookshelf. "This one isn't the first in the series," I said with a chuckle as I plucked The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe from the shelf. "This one first. We can read until dinnertime." I went and sat against the bed. Immediately Monika claimed her spot at my right. Unsurprisingly Yuri slid down to my left, causing Monika to glare at Yuri for a bit but only for a moment.

"Awww no fair, I wanted to follow along too," Sayori pouted, crossing her arms.

"Well here, how about this?" Monika moved and sat between my legs. Happily Sayori slid next to me.

_Oh God, this is uncomfortable_, I said. On the one hand, I had two beautiful women on either side of me and a veritable goddess sitting between my legs, but on the other hand if anyone saw me with schoolgirls like this… "I'll read the first chapter, then we should discuss a few things." I held the book open and cleared my throat. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy…"

* * *

**Well, that took a turn even I wasn't expecting! Hope you enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	15. Dinner With The Dokis

"Really? He's got a crush on me?"

My apartment was crowded. I'd finished reading the first three chapters of the book and now we were discussing the events of the day. Natsuki was still busily cooking up some vegetarian meatloaf for us but still listening in, Yuri was looking at my scifi and fantasy collection and Monika and Sayori were sitting at the table with me. All four were looking at me in shock. I nodded somberly. "Seems that way," I said. "He told me the crush started last year when you two were in the same class." I told them about the conversation the two of us had.

"I'm not surprised," Sayori said, sounding a bit hurt. "Monika's been ranked among the top three as contenders for school idol."

Monika sighed and rubbed her temples. "Something I still find just…offensive. I'm more than a piece of meat."

"Of course not," I said. Lifting my finger, I pointed at each of them. "Sayori's aloof and kooky, Natsuki's sweet and cutesy, Yuri is deep and brooding, Monika's brain's and beauty."

Yuri blushed. "Did you come up with that?" she asked softly.

"Oh my God, that is the corniest thing I've ever heard," Natsuki said.

"Don't blame me for that," I said. "They're lines from a song about Doki Doki Literature Club made by a YouTuber."

"Remind me to beat his face in when we get to reality for calling me cutesy," Natsuki grinned, mining a boxing stance. "Cutesy is worse than being called cute!" She came and joined us, sitting next to Sayori and myself, as far away from Monika as possible.

"I can see where you're coming from," I said, "but the fact that he has this crush on Monika worries me."

"Ooooh, is someone jealous?" Natsuki said, lightly punching me in the arm.

"No!" I said a bit forcefully. "Okay well yes I am."

Monika reached over and took my hand. "There's no need to be," she said softly. "I never loved the MC. I love you now." She gave my hand a comforting squeeze.

With that simple gesture, my insecurities melted away. I almost got lost in her eyes before I heard a certain cute tsundere clear her throat. "Are you two done making kissy faces at each other? Seriously, it's disgusting." Yuri was looking away from the scene, looking a bit jealous as well.

I turned and gave Natsuki a wry grin. "You'll experience it someday. You do have quite a following of fanboys and fangirls. Hell, you all do."

Her face matched her pink hair instantly. "Wh-whatever," she said. "Just tell me about this immediate threat already."

Drawing on the new information downloaded into my mind about Project Shadow, I began to explain in more detail about the project. Natsuki listened intently as did Sayori and Yuri. Their faces turned to horror and revulsion when they heard about the horrific means of torture used on Libitina. When I was finished, silence filled the room. "Oh my God…" Sayori said.

"I've heard of things like this in the books I've read," Yuri said, "but in real life…?"

"I think…I'm gonna be sick," Natsuki said, covering her mouth and rushing to the bathroom. I heard retching sounds. Sayori immediately went to check on her, comforting her. Yuri leaned against the wall, apparently lost in thought.

"My sentiments exactly," I said somberly.

Natsuki came back, looking pale. "Sorry…"

"Don't be," Monika said, eyes downcast. "It's not your fault. It's the fault of the American government-"

"That's not what I was talking about," Natsuki quickly interrupted. She looked at Monika. "Monika, look at me."

Surprised, Monika did so. "N-Natsuki?"

"I still don't know if I've forgiven you for what you did to all of us," Natsuki said. "But the way I treated you was uncalled for. I realize now that all of that might not have been as much your fault as you think. I'm still mad as hell, but I don't hate you. Even when I was just a character in a game, you made the clubroom feel safe for me. Hell, you even let me keep my manga in the room when I was too scared to keep it at home. And your actions this time around certainly are different than they have been."

"You don't have to apologize to me," Monika said. "I deserve it."

"No, you didn't deserve to be treated like that," Natsuki said. I was watching this exchange with shock. Natsuki was certainly acting atypical. Perhaps it had something to do with her newfound sapience. "I-I'm sorry."

Monika lost it. She rushed over and hugged Natsuki, crying softly. Sayori walked over and hugged the two of them in the warmest display of friendship I'd ever seen.

Yuri walked over and joined them. "Monika, this is a lot for me to take in right now, but I understand why you did what you did all those other times. It's going to take me a while, but I think I can forgive you too."

Monika's tears doubled and she wept harder. Yuri wrapped her arms around everyone, almost protectively. Eventually the crying settled down.

Natsuki then turned to me. "And Jon," Natsuki said. "I owe you an apology too. I didn't mean to treat you like that, especially in public."

"What is it with you newly sapient people and calling me by my first name?" I asked curiously. "Not that I mind, but…ah whatever."

"And they call me tsundere," Natsuki laughed. Sayori and Yuri joined in but both stopped when Monika and I didn't join. "Hey come on, it was a joke," she said.

"Not really, it's truer than you know," Monika said. She looked at me as if asking for permission. I nodded. "Jon's been…having troubles." She explained how every time I helped one of the girls, the negative traits would get transferred over to me.

"What?!" Sayori looked shocked and scared. Yuri looked concerned and Natsuki looked angry. Looking at me Sayori said "Can't you transfer them back?!"

"I don't know how, and even if I could I wouldn't," I replied. "Before you say anything, I have more experience in dealing with these types of emotions, although the tsundere part is a bit new to me, but not altogether unfamiliar. I was sent here to save all of you, and if that means being a buffer between you and your amplified emotions, then for now that is what I'll be. But only for now. I don't plan on remaining that way forever because that'd be wrong to do."

"Thank you," Monika said, taking my hand again.

"Hey, don't sweat it too much, Sensei. We're all in this together now," Natsuki said, putting her hand over mine and Monika's.

"We can do this!" Sayori said energetically, placing her hand on Natsuki's.

"I…don't know how much I can help, but I'll do anything to help you," Yuri added, placing her hand on the others.

I looked at them all and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, ladies."

I heard a dinging from the kitchen timer. "It's done!" Natsuki said as she headed to grab the meatloaf from my small oven. A savory aroma filled the air immediately. "Jon, do you have any plates?"

I showed her one of the cupboards where I had around five plates. Grabbing four of them I placed them around the kotatsu. Natsuki carried the meatloaf towards the table, steam rising from it tantalizingly. I had to admit, the dish looked like something you'd find in some of the finest restaurants. _Wonder if that has anything to do with us being in a simulation_? "Wow! That looks fantastic!" Sayori said, mouth watering in anticipation.

"As it should from a future five-star chef!" Natsuki said proudly as she began slicing the loaf into five pieces. She carefully lifted them onto the plates.

"Future five-star chef?" I asked, grinning widely.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Nothing," I said. "I expect great things from you, Natsuki. When you open your restaurant, I want to be one of the first customers you serve."

Her cheeks reddened. "Sensei you dummy…" But I also saw a small smile briefly play over her lips. "Just because you're working to save us don't expect a free meal!" she said, pointing at me.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Your food is worthy of money."

"Oh is it now?" She held out her palm. "That'll be ten thousand yen."

"Oho?" I leaned forward. "And whose kitchen are you using? Whose money paid for the ingredients?"

She stammered. "F-fine!" Crossing her arms she looked away. Monika, Yuri and Sayori were giggling to themselves.

"Well let's not sitting here with our bellies growling," Monika said, "Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!" we all said and began to eat. The meatloaf may not have been made with actual meat, but I couldn't tell thanks to Natsuki's exceptional cooking ability. _She will definitely do well in the culinary world if we got out of here_.

"Natsuki…are you sure there's no meat in here?" Monika asked cautiously.

"Of course not! Sayori was there when we bought the ingredients, ask her!" Natsuki said.

"Okay, sorry."

"Hey, so here's a question for you," Yuri asked. "If you knew this world was fake, why not stop being a vegetarian?"

Monika seemed to consider her answer. "Yuri, the script made me say that, but at the time I didn't know that. I guess I've repeated the game so much that I just…never thought to try meat."

"Take it from someone who loves meat," I said, "this meatloaf tastes just like the real thing. Where'd you get the recipe?" I asked Natsuki.

"Found it online earlier," she said.

"Really? Show me." I opened up my laptop and watched her browse this world's internet.

"Here!" She opened one page and let me read the ingredients.

"Well that's impressive," I said. I took a screenshot and saved the recipe for later use. "This world's internet is expanding rapidly."

"But not the town," Monika said.

"So why hasn't anyone tried to leave?" Sayori asked.

"I have a theory," I said. "Think of it as a perception filter."

"What's that?" Natsuki asked.

"It's something from a famous science fiction show back in reality," I explained, "and the basic concept is that it's a filter capable of tricking the senses or altering memory. Even computers have their limits, and while the computer running this game is incredibly powerful, I'm sure trying to render an entire world is extremely difficult. Especially with this level of detail." I picked up a scrap of paper no larger than a penny and held it up. "The coding in place to render such a simple scrap of paper to such detail is incredibly impressive, so imagine replicating an entire human body, not to mention the over 80,000 people in this city." Realizing I was rambling and that everyone but Monika weren't really following, I cleared my throat. "Basically, the people here are being tricked into not going out. And I don't think we should or we may break the game."

"Why didn't you just say so?!" Natsuki said.

"Ahaha, sorry," I said with a chuckle. "I guess I got a bit carried away. I just had a bunch of information downloaded into my file, after all. I understand a lot about coding and computers. It's just taking a while to integrate into me. But anyway, I have something to show you all."

I reached under my bed and retrieved the suitcase I'd gotten on the first day. I opened it and retrieved a folder. "What's that?" Yuri asked, leaning over curiously.

"My mysterious benefactors gave this to me on my arrival," I said. "I hadn't gone over it much, but I did find these schematics." I opened up the folder and placed it on the table. The girls leaned in and looked at it curiously. The design was simple, a cone shaped device about the size of a hand. On the inside there were a few unusual looking components.

"What is it for?" Yuri asked.

I pulled out a note and read. **Dear Jon Price. If you're reading this now, then you've managed to save at least three of the four girls, and hopefully four. If our hypothesis is correct, they should all be able to use basic console commands. If that's true, then tell them this: Hello ladies. If Jon hasn't already explained it to you already, we are the ones who sent him into this world. We won't reveal our names yet, but please trust us when we say you have your best interests at heart. The designs you see on the page are easy for even a novice at coding to create. I know what we're about to ask of you sounds odd, but please understand that there is a good reason for this. We need you to create one hundred of these devices and place them all around the city. Enclosed is a map of your city and the locations where we need you to place them. If we're right about this, then this will be the final stage in your freedom from this nightmare**. I put the note down. All the girls were staring at the design on the page. "Seems simple enough," I said.

"Okay…so what is it for?" Natsuki asked.

"Hell if I know," I said, "but my benefactors haven't been overly hostile to me thus far. I'm inclined to trust them."

"I don't know…" Monika said. "But I trust you and your judgement, Jon."

"M-me too," Yuri quickly added.

I was surprised at how well Yuri was adjusting to her new sapience. Natsuki punched my arm. "We all do, dummy."

"Yeah!" Sayori held up both her hands and smiled.

"You guys…" I smiled, getting all teary eyed again.

"You're not gonna cry on us, are you?" Natsuki teased.

"N-no! There's just something in my eye!" I said almost instinctively, rubbing my tears away. "Anyway, let's eat and then we can get started on making these devices."

After we finished the meatloaf, I went to do dishes while Monika helped the other three girls in learning how to use the console commands. When I got back, there were ten of those devices sitting on the table. I nearly laughed when I saw the four girls staring into thin air, tapping at invisible holographic screens. Since my table was taken by the girls I sat against the wall on my bed and opened up my own command console. I put on some classical music before I began. With only the music of Mozart to keep us company, the four girls and I created all one hundred by the time sunset rolled around.

"Do you want to wait until tomorrow to set these up?" I asked everyone. "I mean it is getting late, and I'm sure you're all exhausted after the day we've all had."

"I…would actually like to go and do this now," Yuri said. I was surprised at her sudden enthusiasm. I didn't expect it from her.

"Yeah, why not?" Natsuki said. "It's only what, 7:30ish?"

"It seems a bit late to start, though," I objected.

"Well, perhaps you're right," Monika said. She looked at the bags of cones sitting neatly in the corner. "So let's just spend the rest of the night enjoying ourselves." She grabbed the book I'd been reading to them earlier and tossed it to me. "Here you go!" she said excitedly as she snuggled against my chest again.

"You're just looking to get me fired, aren't you?" I said with a soft sigh.

"Shut up, baby, you love it," she giggled as she lay against me comfortably. On my left I felt Yuri's shoulder press against my own on my right, Sayori's. Behind me I felt Natsuki sit on my bed, lightly kicking my head.

"Oi, what are you girls doing?" I asked, trying my best not to get aroused. Having Monika with me was bad enough, but all four of them was driving my inexperienced self into overload. I felt like a hormonal teenager again, then again my body wasn't twenty eight years old in this world anymore. I cleared my throat and held up the book so I could see it. "'But what are you?' said the Queen again. 'Are you a great overgrown dwarf that has cut off its beard?'" I continued reading the book through the rest of the evening. When nine rolled around I found a good stopping place and closed the book. Everyone but Monika was already asleep. Yuri and Sayori were leaning on my shoulders, breathing softly and Natsuki had slid down the wall, head resting against the pillow.

"Thank you, Jon," Monika whispered as she held my hands in hers. "Are your arms okay?"

"They'll be fine," I said, wrapping my arms around her.

"And I don't just mean thank you for reading. I mean for making the girls happy. They really enjoyed spending time with you." She pressed her body against mine. "I know Yuri has feelings for you, but I think…I think the others are starting to like you too. Just like I do."

I heard the hurt in her voice. I held her tighter. "It bothers you that much?"

I felt dampness on my arms and heard her sniffling. "I can't help it. I love you, but I don't want to hurt my friends either. Not anymore. I don't know…I don't want to monopolize you, but I don't want their hearts broken…"

"Moni…" I decided to use a nickname for her suddenly. "You know I care for all you girls. You're all amazing individuals. But I love you."

She relaxed at those three words. "I love you too."

The two of us stood and held each other close for a long while. After we let go, the two of us carefully maneuvered the furniture around. Monika somehow managed to create three futons which she spread on the floor. After laying the three girls in them and covering them with warm blankets, the two of us climbed into bed together. We fell asleep near each other, hands clasped.

* * *

UNKNOWN POV

_He did it! I don't know how, but he saved Yuri! Damn him!_

**Calm down, my high-strung friend. **

_I thought you said that transfer was temporary!_

**I know! Hold on, I'm coming up with an idea. We can use it to our advantage. I have one more foolproof trick up my metaphorical sleeve.**

_And what, pray tell, is it?_

**We can't break the girls anymore, they're now sapient beings. But using more conventional means, we can break him.**

_How?_

**Leave that to me.**

* * *

**Uh oh, trouble's coming, again. Then again when isn't there trouble for this poor teacher? Enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	16. Mission: Save the Dokis!

That night, I dreamed I was hovering over Midokita. I saw the people sleeping for the most part, but saw some who worked at night going about their daily business. I flew through the town, seeing people working at convenience stores, shopping centers and more. For some reason, my eyesight was better than normal. As I flew, I saw the world fall away to reveal green code, similar to the code in the Matrix movies. Coming from one small apartment complex I saw five yellow forms, contrasting the constant green I saw. The world appeared to glitch suddenly and I heard a woman's laughter, which dissolved into…sizzling?

I woke to the sound of humming and a delicious smell of sausage cooking. I opened one eye and saw Monika still sleeping beside me, her face peaceful. I tried to sit up only to realize I was stuck. I tried to turn my head only to be greeted by the face of another. I jumped and nearly shouted in shock when I saw Yuri lying next to me. She must have sensed my waking because she opened her eyes and, seeing me awake, jumped and tumbled off the bed. "Ow…"

I looked over my bed. "Yuri? You okay?"

She sat up, holding her head. "Yeah, I'm fine…you startled me is all." She began playing with her hair nervously.

I began getting up but two strong arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me back. I turned around and was greeted by a pair of soft lips almost enveloping mine. My eyes widened as Monika's tongue slid into my mouth. Judging from her actions, I guessed she was half asleep. I tried moving away, but she only clung to me harder, kissing me fiercely.

"Hey!"

Natsuki's shout seemed to shock Monika awake. She opened her eyes and saw the position she was in. At first, her eyes smiled at me, but then she saw something behind me and released me immediately. "Ah, um, I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "I guess my dream bled into reality a bit."

"M-Monika! Don't make out like that with him!" Yuri said, sounding jealous.

"Guys, can we not fight?" Sayori pleaded.

I looked towards the kitchenette and saw Natsuki giggling her head off at my obvious predicament. _Why do I get the feeling I'm turning into a harem protagonist? Nope, not gonna be so wishy-washy!_ "Ladies, enough!" I said forcefully. Everyone stopped. "That's better. Now Yuri, why were you in bed with us?"

"I…don't know. I got up once last night. I thought I went to bed afterwards, but maybe I got into bed with you."

"Clearly," Monika said.

"I'm sorry!" Yuri looked truly apologetic.

"It's okay, Yuri," Monika said. "Like I said last night, I can't fault you for your feelings."

The girls spent our breakfast grilling me about my reality. Monika said the least as I had already told her a lot about the real world. She sat back and sipped her tea as I explained some of the details. Yuri's eyes perked up when I mentioned some of the larger libraries and bookstores in my world, Natsuki's looked excited when I told her that there were some incredible culinary schools and a wide variety of manga she could enjoy and Sayori was just happy to hear about the outside world in general, especially about the wide variety of sweets and food. "I hope we get to experience that someday," she said wistfully.

"I promise, the moment we all get out, I will treat you all to the best day ever."

Monika grinned. "Are you asking us all out on a date?"

I paused, considering how to respond to that. Monika seemed a bit more relaxed than she had been yesterday. I grinned back. "Yes. Yes I am. You all deserve to have your first impressions of reality be pleasant ones."

Monika smiled gratefully, Yuri blushed and looked away, Natsuki just crossed her arms and made a "humph" sound and Sayori looked excited.

"So I was thinking that after school and club is over, we'd spreading these across the town," I said, indicating the cones we'd made the night before.

"Agreed," Monika said. "Everyone, why don't we grab about twenty of these?" She pulled out the map and four copies appeared. She handed one to each of the girls who then grabbed twenty cones each and stuffed them in their bags. "When club is over we'll leave. Natsuki, take the north, Sayori the west, Yuri the south and I'll take the east. Jon, take the center." She grabbed a pen and circled the spots on the map. "We all clear?"

"Mission: Save the Dokis is a go," I said. When the girls turned to me, I said "Back in reality you're all called the Dokis because of the game's title."

"Sheesh, way too cutesy," Natsuki said.

"That's just the fandom," I said.

"That doesn't mean you have to use it too!" Natsuki said angrily.

"Well Mission Save Monika, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri is way too long," I said, teasing the tiny tsundere. "Save the Dokis is shorter."

"Ugh, I still hate that name…but whatever."

When it was time to leave, the girls all left together, chatting and giggling to each other. Finally I could be alone with my thoughts for a few minutes, but what I ended up doing was performing a few more experiments with my coding. I discovered that I could delete certain files by deleting a small fork. I watched as it dissolved into blocks of code then simply vanished with a pop of displaced air. I didn't have much more time to ponder it as I had to leave.

Classes went by as normal, although I noticed that Motoyasu wasn't concentrating as much, not that he did before, but his mind seemed to be completely occupied. I guessed it was about Monika, and that jealousy creeped back up. No stop. _Be mature about this. Monika already said she's in love with you_.

When I arrived in the clubroom Sayori was already there with Motoyasu. She was trying to talk to him but he seemed to be half there. When I entered he looked up hopefully but when he saw it was me he looked down again. "Hey Price-Sensei…"

"Oh hey Chiba-San. Uh, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, just didn't sleep well last night."

"Well that's not good!" Sayori said, shaking her head. "You need to sleep more!"

"I don't want to oversleep like you," he said.

Sayori pouted and patted Motoyasu's head. "Hey I'll have you know Monika woke me up super early today!"

At the mention of Monika, Motoyasu looked up. "Wait, why was Monika at your house?"

Sayori giggled. "No, I was at her house. All the girls were!" Sayori giggled excitedly.

At that moment Yuri and Natsuki walked in. Their conversation seemed to be more friendly than it was before. "Do you think Edmund will ever be forgiven?" Natsuki asked.

Yuri cleared her throat. "Well, from what I've heard of the story so far, this seems to be an allegorical story based off of the Christian religion, or rather their Bible." She pulled out a thick book. "Since Sensei recited that poem to us, I've been reading this. It's a fascinating conglomeration of tales, poetry and prophecy."

"Eh, if it isn't manga, I won't read it," Natsuki said.

"You know," I interjected, "there is a manga version of the Bible out there."

Natsuki's ears perked up. "For real?"

"I don't have one, but I can see where it can be ordered from and show you," I said with a chuckle.

"I'd…like that," she said before heading over to the closet to grab her manga.

Yuri sat a few spaces from me and opened the book she'd brought. I was amused to see that it was, in fact, the Bible. Was she reading it because it was fascinating, or because I quoted Ecclesiastes last week?

I didn't have time to think about it as Monika ran in, panting. "Hah…hah…sorry I'm late. Anyways, everyone, thank you for a great festival! It went off perfectly!" She bowed gratefully.

"Ah no, it's okay," Motoyasu said, smiling at her warmly. "If it wasn't for your magnificent leadership, we'd never have achieved it."

Monika giggled a bit. "Thanks, Chiba-san."

"You can call me Motoyasu," he replied.

Monika simply nodded then said, "Okay everyone. I've come up with a new idea for club activities. I think it'd be nice to sit around in a circle and read a story aloud together and then discuss it chapter by chapter."

_Copycat_. "What a great idea," I said cheerfully.

Monika giggled again, only this giggle was the one seemingly reserved for me. "I think Sensei should read it," she said, volunteering me.

"Wait, me?" I took on a startled look.

"Y-Yeah, I agree," Yuri said, looking away. The other girls agreed as well. Motoyasu looked a bit disheartened, but appeared to try to smile.

"I doubt I'll get out of this one, but sure," I said. "So, any books in mind?"

"Why don't you read to us whatever you're reading right now?" Monika said.

"Hmm, alright, let's see…" I reached into my bag and pulled out The Fellowship of the Ring again. "I've been re-reading this old classic, and I think everyone here would like it. There's adventure, danger, fights and more." We assembled six chairs in a circle. Monika took a spot to my right, Yuri to my left, Natsuki next to Yuri, Motoyasu next to Monika and Sayori opposite me. I opened the book and said, "This might take a while to read, the first chapter that is." So saying, I began to read. Having read it once recently, this second attempt went by easier. I even attempted to do voices for the other characters, which got laughs from everyone, even Motoyasu. After about an hour and a half I closed the book. "There's the first chapter. Now then, thoughts?"

I stepped back, placed the book down and let the club discuss. Motoyasu seemed to try and contribute as often as he could most likely to impress Monika. He'd certainly taken my advice it seemed, but to my relief Monika seemed to never give him any lead ons. I just sat and listened, enjoying the thoughts of everyone. Eventually the sun went behind some clouds. "Okay, everyone," Monika said, "Club time is over for now. We'll continue doing the same thing with chapter two tomorrow." She handed me the book again. "Time to go."

"Thanks." I put the book away.

"Sayori, want to walk home together?" I heard Motoyasu ask as I was packing my stuff.

"Sorry, Motoyasu, I actually have to go shopping today and take care of some other errands," Sayori replied. "Tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure, tomorrow," he said. "See you all later." He grabbed his bag and left.

When we were sure he was out of earshot, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I hated lying to him like that," Sayori said.

"I know," Monika said, "but we can't risk anyone finding out what we're doing. For all we know our enemy could be using him."

"He doesn't seem to be acting any different," Sayori said.

"Except for his sudden interest in Monika," I said. "Although that could be what he really felt. I don't know."

Monika walked up and wrapped her arms around me. "There's no need to worry about it." She wrapped something around my neck and I felt something soft and silky tied around it. "Here, a token of my love for you. It's pretty old, considering I've worn it for the entirety of my real life."

I looked at it and discovered that it was her white bow. I smiled, reached into my pocket and pulled out a black pocketwatch with a dragon emblazoned on the cover. "Here's one of mine," I said. "It's not as old as yours, but it is special to me."

She closed her hand over it and kissed me. "Thank you, Jon."

"For God's sake, get a room you two," Natsuki said with disgust.

"N-Natsuki!" Yuri said, a look of shock on her face. She looked at me and Monika and her face turned red. "You-you're not going to, are you?"

Monika and I looked at each other for a moment, then back at Yuri. "We don't have time for it right now," Monika said. She released me. I tucked the ribbon down so it couldn't be seen.

"O-Okay…" Yuri sounded unconvinced.

"So, is everyone ready to go?" I asked, grabbing my bag. "You all have your cones, right?" The girls held up their bags. "Good. Does anyone need money for the trains or buses? I have some if you need it." I gave everyone around two thousand yen each anyway.

"One more thing!" Monika said. "I think we shouldn't chat using the console for a while. I'm not sure it's safe. Use phones if necessary."

"Agreed," I said. "Okay, is everyone ready to go?" With an affirmative answer, we headed out.

As I was heading towards the teacher's lounge, Monika ran up to me. "Sensei, hold on a minute!"

"What is it?" I asked, noting the look of worry on her face.

She pulled me into an empty classroom, looked around to make sure no one was around then lowered her voice. "I was late today for a different reason than practicing piano," she said. "Someone anonymously reported seeing me enter your apartment with you. The principal and vice principal called me in to ask me about it."

My heart dropped. "What did you tell them?" I asked.

"That I hadn't gone there at all and that I'd gone straight home after every school day. But I don't have an alibi. They called my grandma and she's coming to stay with me for a few nights to make sure I'm all right." She looked at me sadly. "Sorry."

"Yeah, probably a good idea," I said. "Alright, then I'll see you at school tomorrow."

She nodded. "Of course. See you then." She smiled at me then left.

I spent some time in the teacher's lounge so as not to arouse any suspicion. To my surprise none of the teachers asked me about what Monika had told me. _Maybe the teachers weren't told about it_. After about a half hour of work I thanked everyone and left. I took out my map and looked at the places Monika had outlined for me to go earlier. I saw that there were three spots in the school alone. I went to those places and placed the cones. To my surprise, they disappeared the moment I placed them down. Even when I waved my hand around, it just passed through the air.

I spent the entire afternoon and evening going through the town placing cones everywhere I was supposed to. When I finally placed my last one down it was half past seven. I trudged home tiredly from the train station near my place. I was carrying some convenience store sandwiches. I was surprised to find that Natsuki was in my kitchen cooking. "Natsuki? What are you doing here? I thought for sure you'd be home by now."

She turned and put her hands on her hips. She looked at my bag then back at me. "You know, I figured that you'd probably eat something unhealthy if someone wasn't here to make you something," she said with a huff as she went back to her pot.

"You didn't have to," I began, but an angry glance from her gave me pause. "But thank you. I appreciate it."

She waggled her finger at me. "That's better. The others should be here soon, well except for Monika." She looked up at me. "She told me about what happened over the phone earlier."

"Well it can't be helped," I said. "What did you tell Yuki tonight about why you and Yuri aren't home yet?"

"Just that the girls are spending some time together and that we'll be back by around nine thirty." She indicated the living room. "Yuri's already there. Sayori messaged me about ten minutes ago. Apparently she got lost and had to double back around three times before finding her last spot. She said she'd be here shortly."

As if on cue, Sayori walked in, panting as if she'd been running. "Hah…hah…sorry I'm late."

"Late? Don't worry, I just got here," I said.

"Don't worry, I was more discreet than Monika was," Sayori said as she took off her shoes.

After I changed into my more casual attire, I went into the living room. Yuri was sitting on my bed reading intensely. She didn't seem to notice when I entered and sat at the table. I opened a console window and began to continue experimenting. Sayori was busy watching Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor on my laptop. Natsuki came in with a large bowl of curry and rice. "Since Monika isn't here, I decided to make something with meat in it," she said as she placed the bowl down. "Bon appétit."

_Oh God, is she stealing my French act_? Yuri looked down from her book and noticed me for the first time. She nearly squealed in surprise. "J-Jon?! When did you get here?!"

"Half an hour ago," I said.

She quickly got off my bed. "I'm sorry for sitting in your bed," she said in a panic.

"Hey calm down, it's alright," I said reassuringly. "I don't mind."

"You'll do anything to get a girl into bed with you, eh Sensei?" Natsuki said with a teasing grin.

Yuri blushed and I facepalmed. "When did you get so dirty?" I asked with a sigh.

"Heeheehee!" She laughed as she served us all. "Here we are, dig in everyone! Itadakimasu!"

As we ate, I asked everyone how successful their missions had been. I was grateful to hear that they'd all succeeded in their assignments. I only hoped Monika had succeeded as well. "She said she did in her text earlier," Sayori said, showing me the texts she'd sent along with a selfie of her placing a cone next to a statue, the same one she'd sent me a little while earlier. After dinner was over and we'd cleaned up, I watched Natsuki and Yuri go. I heard them talking and arguing about something again. This left me alone with Sayori.

"So…I take it you're planning to stay here tonight again?" I asked, suddenly a bit nervous.

"Is that not okay?" she asked, sounding a bit apprehensive.

"Well, it's just that with the thing with Monika…" I stopped when I saw her face fall. "Ah, no that's not what I was going to say. I just meant we need to be more careful is all. You can definitely stay the night tonight."

Her smile returned and she held up her hands. "Yay!"

"Well, since you're staying here, do you want to take a bath first or should I?" I asked.

"Ah, um, could I?" she asked nervously, pressing her fingers together in that cute way her sprite always did. "I'm sure I'm dirty."

"Go ahead then," I stepped aside and let her pass. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. When she was done, I followed and came out in my sleeping clothes. Sayori was already in her futon playing on her phone. I saw she was playing something akin to Angry Birds. That was something I could instantly imagine Sayori doing. I climbed into bed and closed my eyes. It was weird sleeping in bed alone after a week of sleeping with Monika. It was lonely and cold, but I knew it was only temporary. I fell asleep to the sounds of my fan and Sayori's giggling as she went from level to level.

I woke early the next morning. Sayori was flat on her face, phone still in her hand. _Must have fallen asleep playing her game_. I made breakfast for myself and Sayori which was just toast and scrambled eggs. She woke a half hour after I did. "Smells good!" Sayori said, smiling as she sat at the table, mouth drooling.

I placed down her dish and sat across from her. As we ate, I asked her how she was doing. "With the Motoyasu thing?" I asked carefully.

She looked at her meal thoughtfully. "I'll be fine," she said, showing me her smile, but this smile seemed more fake than her newer ones.

"Sayori…"

Her persona faltered. "I…I…I'M NOT FINE!" She finally broke down, crying hard. Quickly I rushed over and wrapped her in a tight comforting hug. "I know I shouldn't be feeling so sad since my memories of him never happened, but it hurts!" She buried her face into my chest again and wept bitterly. I let her cling to me as she vented her heartbreak. Finally she'd calmed down a bit. "Jon, thank you. You've actually been more of a friend to me than he has during any of the game playthroughs." She looked into my eyes with her sparkling blue ones.

"I'm your teacher, it's in the job description," I said.

She reached and rubbed my hair. "You're more than that to me. You're a friend, a real friend." She suddenly leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"Ah, um, Sayori-?"

"I wouldn't dream of coming between you and Monika," she interrupted me before I could object any further. "I just…wanted this brief moment with you. I know it's selfish, but…"

"It's okay, Sayori. I'm sure Monika would understand and forgive you."

She smiled and snuggled into me for a few more minutes. Eventually she let go and went to get dressed. About ten minutes later she left. I left a half hour later. The day was gray and threatening rain so I grabbed an umbrella. As I approached the school, I saw Monika in the distance. I almost rushed to catch up to her but I saw something then that made my heard stop.

Monika was standing on her tip-toes, kissing Motoyasu.

* * *

**_Audible gasp_! Will this mean certain doom for our hero? Will he fall deeper into his depression? Tune in next time for the next exciting chapter of Shadow Within the Code!**

**morbiusgreen**


	17. Comfort From The Dokis

I called the school and told them I'd had a panic attack earlier that morning and was feeling even more unwell than the day before. All the emotions and troubles that had plagued my mind ever since I'd gotten the first negative trait transfer came back in full force. It was almost as if they'd paralyzed me with self-doubt, insecurity, self-loathing/hatred and every negative emotion I'd ever felt since coming here and then some. I barely made it to bed before it fully overwhelmed me.

My vision went dark, my thoughts went from self-pity to violent and murderous and possessive, then back to extreme depression. The Gray was back and more powerful than ever. I lost track of time, the hours blending together through that day. Tears flowed down constantly until I couldn't cry anymore, and then I kept crying. I felt an immeasurable weight pressing down on me throughout the day which suddenly increased in strength around five or so. I knew that because it was when I started thrashing about and I happened to catch a glimpse of the clock. I screamed and clutched my head as searing pain coursed through my head.

_Don't fight it anymore, give in_, a voice said. I recognized it moments later as my voice, the voice in my head. _There's no shame in wanting pain to end. It's something we all want_.

I tried to move but the pain and weight kept me from moving very far without massive amounts of pain shooting through me. I just lay there. It appeared as if the light from the window had vanished and I felt as if I, or rather, the room, was floating in some endless void. I heard no sound from the outside. I closed my eyes, hoping that sleep would help clear my mind.

Darkness. Unceasing darkness. Screams. Endless screams. Cries of mercy, indistinguishable from one another. I tried to hold my hands to my ears, but that only seemed to amplify the screams of torture. Was this what Monika experienced?

Monika…the mention of her name brought tears of heartbreak and betrayal from my face. I joined the wailing for what seemed like an eternity until a light blinded me. I saw Monika standing in a spotlight. She looked at me with a smug grin. "You thought I loved you? For shame, Price-Sensei. I only was interested in you because of where you were from. I always loved the player."

Motoyasu stepped into frame, wrapping his arms around Monika and smiling at me. "Sorry, Price-Sensei. I really am. But I want to be with Monika. You're a teacher, she's a student. You should know it wouldn't have worked out." I watched as he took her hand and the two began walking off together.

"Wait…no please…don't leave me…Monika…Monika…MONIKA!"

I woke suddenly, screaming Monika's name. My body was drenched with sweat and I was panting heavily. I held my head in my hands. "Someone…anyone…help."

I felt a pair of hands wrap around me. One hand held my head and the other wrapped itself around me. I found my head nestled in a pair of large and soft breasts. "Jon…"

I looked up and saw Yuri's bright purple eyes looking down at me with a look of concern. "Yuri…?"

"I was worried when you didn't show up, so I came here to check on you," she said tenderly, stroking my hair. "Are you-?"

I buried my face in her chest and wept bitterly. "I saw Monika. She and Motoyasu…" I couldn't bring myself to say any more as I clung to her.

Her hold on me tightened and she rubbed my back. "Shhh, it'll be alright, Jon. Everything will be alright."

Among my sobs I heard my door open. "Hey Jon, are you alright? When you didn't come to school-YURI! What are you doing?!" I recognized the voice as belonging to Natsuki. "Trying to seduce him!?"

"N-No, not at all!" Yuri said.

"What happened?" Sayori asked. "Oh my God! Jon?!" I felt another hand on my back.

"He was tossing and turning in his sleep when I came in," Yuri said, "He woke up screaming Monika's name."

"Hmph, so he knows somehow," Natsuki said.

"He said he saw her and Motoyasu," Yuri said.

"Tch, that girl, what is she thinking?!" Natsuki sounded more pissed than I'd ever heard. "First she suspends club activities and then this?!"

Yuri's arms wrapped tighter around me, and her grip on me made me feel a bit better. Sayori and Yuri held and comforted me as my tears subsided while Natsuki began making something in the kitchen. After a while Yuri let me go and I managed to sit up. I felt weak and pathetic. I was sure my eyes were completely bloodshot. Natsuki came in and made a face. "Damn, you look like crap. Go take a bath. Ladies, force him if he won't move!"

"Huh?!" Both girls exclaimed simultaneously.

"B-But Natsuki-" Yuri began.

Natsuki shot her a glare. "We don't have the time for you to be all shy about seeing someone naked! Get a move on! I already filled the tub."

I held up my hand. "It's alright…I'll go." I tried to get up and fell back, still weak. The girls helped me to my feet and after a few false starts I made it to the bath. I got undressed the moment the door was closed and climbed in. The hot water refreshed me, but not by much. I just stared at the water, face blank. _It's too much to handle…can't I rest? Haven't I suffered enough? I just want it to end…_

I looked at the water. To me it looked like salvation. I let myself slide down into it, letting the warm water move over my head until I was completely submerged. The silence was comforting. I felt like I was drifting in a silent sea on some distant planet, no one there but me and my thoughts. A smile formed as I began to slip away…

Only to be pulled up and slapped in the face. I coughed, mostly in surprise. Standing above me, looking fully enraged, was Natsuki. "What. The. FUCK?! The fuck are you doing, Jon?!" She hit me in the stomach and I spit up the water I'd swallowed.

"Ow, it hurts," I said.

"Of course it hurts, I just hit you!" she said.

"No…not that…everything hurts. I just want it to be over…done."

She paused for a bit, then slapped me again. "Do you think it doesn't hurt us too?!" she shouted, continuing to slap me. "We had to watch those two make kissy faces during the club! We figured you'd found out somehow and were sulking. That hurt us more! None of us could stand to see you hurting!" She grabbed my hair and pulled me towards her. "And here's why!" She pressed her tiny lips against mine harshly, forcefully. My eyes widened as she continued to kiss me, but I saw tears streaming down her cheeks as she did so. I somehow knew those tears were for me. She broke the kiss and glared at me. "We all love you, Jon…don't give up. I know Monika better than that. She wouldn't just abandon someone she loves like that, even in the game. Something must have happened."

For the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled. "Natsuki…"

"Just hurry up and finish. Dinner's ready."

I chuckled a bit. "You know I'm in the bath, right?"

I could literally see the blood rushing up her face. She threw me against the wall, rushed out and slammed the door. "DUMMY!" she called out as she ran.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Dummy, huh…?" As I sat back down, I splashed water in my face and smacked my cheeks. "I really am one, aren't I?" The Gray began to recede slowly and color returned to the world. I forced myself to wash up, dress and head out. The girls were all sitting around my table and when I came out they all looked at me, all except Natsuki who looked away from me, ears turning red. I inhaled and bowed. "Girls, forgive me for making you worry so much. I didn't mean-"

Someone lifted me up and I found myself staring into Yuri's purple eyes once again. She had a smile on her face. "We all forgive you, Jon." Somehow her soft mature sounding voice helped me calm down even more. "We know how much it hurts to see someone you love loving someone else."

I looked away, feeling ashamed and guilt ridden that I couldn't return their affections. _Wasn't I brought here to save them and make them all happy? So why can't I even do that_? "I…I'm sorry," was all I could say again.

"Hey, stop apologizing," Natsuki said.

"So-Okay," I said in response to Natsuki's glare at me. "Thank you all. I really needed all that."

"Oh, um, just one more thing before we talk about what happened," Yuri said.

"Hmm? What is it? MMPH!?" Yuri's lips crashed into mine and she wrapped her arms around me. She broke the kiss a few moments later, face flushed.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to be selfish for a bit," Yuri said, gasping for breath.

"Aww no fair, Yuri!" Sayori said and the next thing I knew I was being tackled and kissed by the cute little cinnamon bun. Her kiss was playful. She broke it around the same amount of time later, giggling. "There, now we're all even."

I touched my lips in surprise. So much was happening in such a short time that my brain was nearly in overload. I closed my eyes and exhaled a bit. "Hah…okay, um…" _Nope! Not the time to become a harem anime protagonist who freezes! Snap out of it!_ I cleared my throat. "Well, those were some amazing kisses," I said in an attempt to lighten the mood, but I only succeeded in making every girl blush. I moved towards the table and sat. Natsuki had made Hamburg Steak for everyone, with cheese for herself and Sayori. "Time to get serious." I leaned on my hands in the Monika pose. "I'm going to regret asking this, but what happened at school today?"

The girls explained what had happened. The first thing that had caught their attention was when I'd called in sick, so the classes were just a study hall. When they got to the club they found Motoyasu and Monika talking and laughing together. I subconsciously touched the ribbon Monika had given to me the day before. When the girls had asked what was going on, Monika announced that she and Motoyasu were now dating and that the club's activities were suspended for a while. "She didn't even give a reason as she walked out with Motoyasu in hand," Natsuki said, gripping her fork angrily. "Yuri was the first to guess that the reason for you not being in school might have something to do with that. We couldn't even talk to her. Yuri ran straight here."

I looked over at Yuri. "How did you guess?"

She blushed nervously and played with her hair. "I, um, looked at your character profile. I know I'm not as proficient as you or Monika, but I think I saw that you were heartbroken. I'm still learning though."

"No, you were right," I said. I described what had happened to me through the day and how it felt. "I'm still hurt, but I feel a lot better thanks to you three."

Natsuki sighed and took a large bite of her meal, chewing it thoughtfully. After she swallowed she said "It's strange, but I didn't think she'd put her hair back up."

_Wait, her hair_? When I thought back to what I'd seen, I remember seeing Monika only wear her ribbon on the first day. She'd been wearing it loose ever since I'd said she looked better with it down. The Monika I'd seen earlier **did** have her hair up with a ribbon. _And now that I think about it, when Monika told me about a meeting with the teachers, she had her hair up as well_. "Gah, I'm blind!" I exclaimed, slamming my hand down on the table with such force that every plate seemed to lift into the air slightly.

"Ah, what is it?!" Natsuki asked.

"I am so stupid!" I said. "I was so blinded by my own emotions I couldn't think clearly."

"Obviously," Natsuki said. "So, what did you realize?"

I inhaled. "That woman, the one you met, isn't Monika. It can't be." I took out Monika's hairband. "She's been wearing this particular hairband ever since the game started. Do you think she'd go back to wearing it now?"

"Um, that's not really much evidence to go on," Yuri said.

"It's not just that," I said. "Earlier I had a run in with Libitina. She took the form of Monika. I have a feeling that Libitina took Monika's place."

The other girls seemed to consider this. "I don't know," Natsuki said. "Why would she make a simple mistake like that?"

"Perhaps to keep me discouraged, or because she forgot? The point is that the woman with Motoyasu isn't Monika, I'm almost positive." I knew I was grasping at straws here, but I wanted to hope a little more.

"Um…I may have some more evidence," Sayori said, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Really? What is it?" Natsuki asked, sounding surprised.

"Um, earlier I was trying to search for Monika's character file, and I saw her next to Motoyasu, but then it seemed to flicker and jump somewhere else."

"Why didn't I think of that?" I berated myself as I pulled up a map of the city. After imputing the character name into the search bar I watched as it zeroed in on a house. Motoyasu was next to the character file named . They appeared to be in a bedroom. "Oh wow…" my heart sank as the two were on a bed. I forced myself to watch. After a minute I was about to shut the map off when the character icon flickered. The map vanished and was replaced by a solid rectangular shape. Monika's character file was all alone, located in the middle of the rectangle. The map glitched again and the map of the house came back. "No way…" I shut the map and leaned against the bed, trying to think.

"You saw that too?" Sayori asked.

"Yes," I said. "and I think I know what it means. Monika _has_ been replaced and she's now in the Eternal Classroom."

The room was silent as everyone took the time to gather their own thoughts. At that moment, the TV crackled to life and the woman from before appeared. The girls all jumped at that. "Jon! There isn't much time before…lose contact. All the cones are in place…one left. It should be in your suitcase…it on the desk in the Eternal Classroom! Hurry–!" The TV switched off at that, leaving only silence again.

We all sat there, stunned. I was the first to make a move. Reaching under my bed I pulled out the suitcase and opened it. Sure enough, there was a cone in the suitcase, only this one was a dark crimson. I held it in my hand. It felt warm to the touch. "Well, I guess we can find out if my hypothesis was correct after all," I said.

"And it it's not?" Sayori asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said. "Hurry up and finish eating. We have a mission to complete."

After we'd finished our meal and cleaned it up, I went to my wardrobe and searched through it. If I was going to a fight, I was damned if I wasn't going to look cool doing it. I put on all black clothes and a black overcoat. On a whim I tied Monika's bow around my hair. I came out of the bathroom feeling like a badass. My lightsaber was strapped to my belt. When the girls saw me, I threw back my coattails with a flourish. Natsuki giggled and the others laughed as well. "You're so silly," Natsuki said as they all stood. To my surprise the girls were wearing the same clothes that their sprites wore whenever they wore casual clothes.

"Ah, these are sort of a statement," Yuri said nervously.

"You all look great," I said. "Before I forget, here." I reached into a drawer and pulled out four cylindrical objects. I handed one to each. "Don't use these unless you absolutely have to. The most dangerous thing about a lightsaber is the only thing with any weight is the handle. There's no counterweight like on a sword." I strapped the one I'd made for Monika on my belt. "You all ready?"

"Yes!" Sayori said, holding her fists up with a wide smile on her face.

"O-Of course," Yuri said, a look of determination on her face.

"Damn right we are," Natsuki said, hands on her hips and grinning widely.

"Great." I grabbed the cone and placed it in my inner pocket on my overcoat. "Then let's go."

To my surprise, the streets seemed quiet as the four of us walked down the street towards the school. The sunset was a threatening crimson, the clouds boiling downward like mammatus clouds. As we walked, we didn't encounter anyone else until we reached the school. In front of the school gates I saw a figure lying face down on the pathway. I ran up and turned the figure over to discover it was Ito-Sensei. I was relieved to find that she was only unconscious. I tried to wake her up but to no avail.

"Jon, look!" Natsuki said, pointing into the school. Looking up, I saw a few other students collapsed, some sitting in benches with their heads slumped, others looking like they were just leaving before they collapsed as well.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked. "Try waking them up and getting some answers."

"I know you're worried," Yuri said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "but we don't have time. They're all alive. We need to focus on our mission first. Libitina's probably behind all this and we need to make sure she doesn't succeed in whatever plan she has."

I nodded grimly. "Right, let's go."

The school was dead silent as the four of us stepped inside. "We should split up," Natsuki suggested.

I shook my head. "No, that's a bad idea. I know why you want to, but we need to stick together in case we're attacked." I took out both lightsabers and held the hilts in my hand. "First let's check the clubroom. We may find a clue there."

Suddenly from outside I heard a loud boom. The glass on the windows cracked and some shattered. "What was that?!" Sayori asked, holding her hands to her ears.

"Sonic boom!" I replied, "be careful!"

"Oh my my my," I heard a disembodied female voice say. "You are certainly full of surprises, aren't you, Price-Sensei?"

"You should have just ended it, Price-Sensei," a male voice added. Two dark figures walked out at the end of the hall. In the crimson light emanating from the windows, it took me a while to figure out who the two were, but even before I recognized them I knew who they were.

Both eyes glowing red, Motoyasu and Libitina in a Monika-suit stood between us and the clubroom. In each of their hands they held a pistol. They quickly took aim…

* * *

**Final boss battle! Here we go!**

**morbiusgreen**


	18. Protect the Dokis, Sensei!

I stepped forward, my green blade held out protectively. Yuri held her own purple blade close to her, Natsuki held her pink one out threateningly and Sayori held her own blue blade out, trembling. The pistol reports still echoed in our ears. The walls had holes where they'd ricocheted off of my blades. My face was grim. "Where is she?" I growled.

The other two looked at me with confusion. "Where did you get those?" Libitina asked.

"I believe I'm asking the questions," I said angrily. "Where. Is. Monika?"

Libitina held out her hands. "Oh, can't you see me right here, Price-Sensei?" she asked sweetly.

I was about to say something when I stopped. I cleared my throat and snapped. From everywhere, a familiar piano tune began to play. I began to sing. "Every day, I fight towards a future where I can rescue you. With my hands, I'll compose a brand-new poem for all of you…"

Libitina listened curiously as I finished the song after the allotted three minutes and two seconds. She smiled. "That's cute, wanting to rescue us. I love the song. Did you write it?"

I laughed harshly. _Gotcha, bitch!_ "First mistake: calling me Price-Sensei. Monika never called me that. Second, that hairband. She never wore it after I said something about it. Third: You can't be Monika, she already heard that song."

She shook her head. "And if you're right, then where's the real Monika?"

I grinned. "The Eternal Classroom."

Her very slight twitching was all the answer I needed. Her eyes narrowed at me. Without hesitation she emptied her clip towards me. With speed I didn't realized I'd had, I deflected every one with machine-like precision, making sure not to accidentally deflect it towards the girls. "Too clever for your own good," she said as she lowered her pistol.

"Motoyasu, get away from her!" Sayori shouted desperately.

"Sayori, please stay out of this," Motoyasu said.

"You don't understand! She's not Monika!" Natsuki said.

"I know that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. His brown eyes were glowing. "I see…you know where we are then."

"Of course I do, and I know all about what Monika did to you girls and to me. The real Monika is a heartless monster who deceived everyone here. She killed every one of you and held me captive, not even loving me like she does," he said, taking Libitina's hand in his. "Don't you hate her? Don't you just want her to suffer indefinitely?"

Yuri stepped forward, eyes wide with an unbridled rage I'd only ever seen hints of during her yandere phase in Act 2. Her purple blade hummed menacingly. "We're about to be freed from this nightmare, and all you can think of is your petty revenge?!" Her eyes glowed brightly with the evidence of her sapience.

"Petty? PETTY?! She trapped me for so many years in that classroom of hers! Don't you think I deserve a little bit of revenge?" Motoyasu pointed at me. "And he had the nerve to side with the enemy!"

"Enough of this," I said. "Girls, go find Monika. I'll take care of these guys."

"But-"

"No arguments." I handed Yuri another lightsaber hilt. "For Monika."

Sayori looked at me. "Jon, try and save Motoyasu.

"No promises, but I'll do my best. Now go!"

The girls ran off instantly, leaving me to face Motoyasu and Libitina alone. I channeled all my anger and rage at them but also tempered it with my mind in order to think more clearly and to anticipate their moves. Libitina laughed. "You honestly believe that you'll ever find her? The Eternal Classroom is impossible to find."

"No it isn't," I said.

Libitina tilted her head. "No, and why's that then?"

"You morons found it, didn't you?"

Libitina's face contorted with rage and the Monika disguised seemed to glitch. I saw a little girl beneath before the projection vanished. "What did you just call me?"

_Whoa, did I find her weak spot?_ I looked down at her with derision. "Moron. Dunce, idiot, dummy, half-wit. Should I go on?"

Motoyasu glared at me with hatred. "She's smarter than you are, Price-Sensei!"

"Not wiser. Drop the pretense, Motoyasu. There is no teacher and student relationship between us anymore," I said coldly. "I can see how far gone you are."

Libitina reached into her blazer and pulled out two cylindrical objects. She tossed one to Motoyasu who caught it. Two crimson lightsaber blades activated simultaneously. "Moto babe, get the girls. This one is mine."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I said, standing between them and the girls. "You'll have to get past me first."

Libitina's eyes glowed red and she smiled grimly. "Challenge accepted."

We ran towards each other, weapons raised…

MONIKA POV

_The Eternal Classroom. I never wanted to see this place again. Damn it, I got careless._

It had been just the day before when they found me. I was placing the last cone near a street corner when I saw a little girl crying across the street. I crossed and asked her what was wrong in as calm and kind a tone as I could muster.

"I'm lost, Onee-chan," she said through her tears. The girl was probably around ten or so, short curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked American, that should have been my first clue, but seeing as I now knew of a few Americans living in this city, I didn't give it much thought at the time.

"Oh dear, well do you know where you live?" I asked.

"_Sniff_…No…"

"Okay, let's go find a police station, alright?" She nodded and let me lead her towards the nearest police station. "Hello?" To my confusion, there was no one at the desk. The lights were on, but it was like no one was on duty. I sat the girl down and called out again. I even looked in some other rooms, but no one was there. "There's no one here-" I said as I entered the main room, only to freeze at a familiar sight. I was standing in what Jon called the Eternal Classroom or Monika's Room. Quickly turning I found that the door was gone. In the seat I normally occupied was the little girl. Only now, she looked calm and collected. Standing behind her was the last person I expected to se. "Motoyasu?"

Motoyasu looked up at me, his brown eyes glowing. "Hello _Monika_." His face was distorted in rage and hatred and he spat my name out as if it was a foul word and a curse.

"Motoyasu, what's going on here?" I asked, cautiously approaching.

"Don't play ignorant with me, bitch. I remembered everything thanks to her," he said as he placed both hands on the little girl's shoulders.

As I watched, the girl morphed and shifted into a carbon copy of myself. She looked at me, hands resting on her hands. She looked at me calmly. "You've been quite a pain in my side, Monika," she said in my own voice. I stood my ground and opened a command console quickly, intent on sending a message to Jon. "Ah ah ah, can't have that," the girl said, snapping. Instantly I found myself tied to a chair unable to move.

I struggled against the chains. "Let me go!" I screamed.

My doppelganger laughed. "Oh sure, why don't I just let you go and ruin my plans," she said. She stood and loomed over me. "Remember this, I gave that man a chance and he blew it."

"Why would he listen to anything you say, you manipulative bitch!?"

The girl, who I now knew to be Libitina, simply smiled. "Oh Monika…don't you understand? You could have been free. You four could have lived with Jon in reality, but he screwed you, just like you screwed the other girls and Motoyasu." She turned and caressed Motoyasu's face tenderly. "Don't worry, you'll get to watch…as I break your boyfriend's heart."

At that moment I had an inkling as to what her plan was. I struggled even harder, as I knew that this would most likely break Jon completely. "No, please don't…"

"Oh it's please now?" Libitina simply sneered at me. The next thing I knew I found myself on my side, my cheek still burning from the slap she'd given me. "Sorry, but please won't work on me anymore." I was lifted up somehow. "Why don't you watch me?" In front of me, a screen appeared showing the outside of Jon's apartment. "Have fun!" she said with a giggle. The two walked through the wall.

No matter what I did, I couldn't break free from my chains. I couldn't even open my command console. I tried moving the chair towards where I'd seen Libitina and Motoyasu phase through, but the chair only moved back to the spot in front of the desk, forcing me to face the floating screen in front of me. I watched as the other girls spent time in Jon's apartment. I felt a stab of jealousy when Sayori slept over at his place, then even more so when she kissed his cheek. However, that all vanished when I saw what happened next.

Jon had just left his place and was walking along when he paused. Peering into the distance his face seemed to pale. The view then turned and I saw…_Oh no, no no no no! LET ME OUT OF HERE!_ Libitina was leaning in and kissing Motoyasu. The view then switched back to Jon. He ran back to his house, made a phone call and then collapsed on his bed. My heart ached as I saw him shed tear after tear. Eventually he was thrashing about, screaming in utter agony. I screamed in similar agony. There he was, the man I loved dearly, and I couldn't do anything to help! What kind of girlfriend was I? Thankfully at one point he seemed to go to sleep, but my relief turned to even more despair when I saw him having a nightmare.

At that moment I saw Yuri walk in. Seeing Jon, she rushed to his side, a look of worry on her face. I was surprised to find that I wasn't jealous when she held him to her breasts, stroking his back lovingly. I was just so relieved to see that he wasn't alone. "Comfort him Yuri, please…"

Sayori and Natsuki came in and I was so grateful to see them both comfort him in their own way. When all three kissed him, I was again surprised to find no jealousy within me, just a sense of happiness and relief that they were able to help him recover. I watched as they prepared to face Libitina. I blushed when I saw Jon put the bow I'd given him into his own ponytail. The moment he stepped outside, I got instantly aroused. Seeing him so determined made him extremely attractive.

I saw him deflect every bullet with his lightsaber, which only impressed me even more. As the girls ran off, I watched tensely as he fought toe to toe with Motoyasu and Libitina. His moves were so fast it was hard to see, but he couldn't seem to gain an advantage over the two. It seemed like it was taking all of his concentration to keep the two from pursuing the girls.

Suddenly I heard three pairs of footsteps enter the room. I saw the half visible figures of the other girls as they entered through what must have been the door of the clubroom. Each of them held what I assumed were lightabers in their hands, although they were off at the moment. "Well, she isn't here," Sayori said sadly.

"No, I'm here!" I shouted as loudly as I could.

"Damn, and you had such a good idea, Yuri," Natsuki said.

"I don't understand, I thought for sure she'd be here," Yuri said.

"Well we've never been to the Eternal Classroom," Natsuki said.

"Well, I have," Sayori said, "but it wasn't a long time."

"Sayori! Yuri! Natsuki! I'm right here!" I shouted again, desperate.

"You're the best lead we have," Yuri said. "You're the most experienced with the code out of everyone here."

I shouted and screamed, hoping against hope that they'd hear me. Sayori opened a command prompt and fiddled with the commands. I shouted until I was hoarse. Still Sayori didn't seem to be making any progress. "I'm sorry, guys," she said sadly.

"It's not your fault," Natsuki said. "I just wish we'd had more time to practice with the code."

Yuri sighed. "Come on, let's go." She turned to leave and as she did so she hit her hips against a desk. Something fell out of her pocket and rolled over to me, only this thing wasn't a ghostly image. It was a solid red cone-shaped object similar to the ones we'd spread across the city. It rolled over to me and to my surprise when it hit my shoe it stopped. "Oh dear," Yuri said, moving over to pick it up. As she reached down I kicked it, sending it flying into the chalkboard.

The three girls watched in stunned silence. "What…the hell…?" Natsuki asked.

Yuri walked over cautiously and picked it up. Holding it in her hand, she looked at it carefully. "It didn't move on its own," she said thoughtfully. "It was almost like it was kicked."

"By who, ghosts?" Natsuki asked.

"Obviously not," Yuri said a bit testily. "No…let me try something." She walked over and placed the cone back where it had fallen then stepped away. Excitedly I gave it a slight kick. As the other two watched, Yuri picked it back up and approached again, gently waving the cone. I winced as it made contact with my cheek. "There's something here," Yuri said. "Something we can't see."

"It's me! Please get me out of here!"

Natsuki came over and waved her hands in the same place. "There's nothing here," she said as her hands passed right through me.

"No, but remember who made this cone?" Sayori said, seeming to slowly come to an understanding. "Maybe we can't touch whatever is here, but the cone can!"

Yuri began feeling around me, moving the cone over my head and down my shoulders. "Call me crazy, but I think I'm touching a person with the cone."

"Maybe it's Monika!" Sayori said.

"Maybe…but only this can touch her if it is her," Yuri said. "How do we get to her?"

"Can that cone be opened somehow?" Natsuki asked.

Yuri began fiddling with the cone. Meanwhile on the screen I saw that Motoyasu had somehow gotten past Jon and was running down the hall, heading straight to the clubroom. "Hang on…I think something budging," Yuri said. With a final twist, the cone split in half and a bright light suddenly shone in my face. I closed my eyes. "Monika?!"

I looked back at the girls who now had their eyes on me. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, we can hear you," Sayori said.

"Good, because there isn't much time. Motoyasu's coming! Sayori, I'll tell you how you can access this room."

At that moment Motoyasu barged into the room, eyes ablaze with rage. He saw me and screamed "Oh no you don't!" He raised his own blade and charged.

Yuri and Natsuki stepped forward and blocked his attacks. "Hurry Sayori! We'll hold him off!" With a skill I didn't even know they possessed, the two began to fight Motoyasu.

Not wasting any time, I told Sayori how to open the door to the classroom. She tried her best, but she kept telling me that her access was denied. "It's only accessible by approved users, it's telling me," she said sadly.

"Well you're an approved user," I said. "Is it asking for a password?"

"Yes…but I don't have a password!"

"Try MC." She tried and shook her head. "Motoyasu Chiba?" She tried it backwards and forwards, and still nothing. "Okay, one last option. Try Jon Price."

She quickly implemented it and suddenly fully appeared in the empty room. She looked around in shock. "Where am I?"

"I'll explain everything later! Get me out of these chains!"

Sayori tried to undo them but to no avail. "Damn, this is hard…oh right!" She took the lightsaber off her belt which came to life with a bright blue blade. She gingerly cut the chains off of me. I quickly stood and opened a console command where I returned myself and Sayori to the Literature Clubroom. Yuri had been knocked out cold and Natsuki was barely holding her own against Motoyasu, but I noticed something strange. He was fighting slower than he had been with Jon. He was either tiring or he really wasn't intent on harming her, just knocking her out. I ran to Yuri and checked her. She was waking slowly.

When she saw me, she smiled slightly. She grabbed another lightsaber by her side and handed it to me. "It's…from Jon."

"Thank you, Yuri. Sayori, you and Natsuki get out of here. I have to help Jon."

"Oh no way," Natsuki said as she jumped back pink saber held out. "You're not the only one who loves Jon now. We are all helping!"

I knew better than to argue with her, and judging from the looks on the other twos faces, I wouldn't be winning any arguments about it. I stood and faced Motoyasu. Touching the activator a green blade identical in color to Jon's joined the fray. I faced Motoyasu with a rage I never knew existed within me. "You will pay dearly for hurting Jon!"

He returned my furious gaze with one of his own. "I've waited years for this!"

Our blades clashed with a spark. I fought purely on instinct, my eyes hot with anger and rage at what he and Libitina had done. However, in the back of my mind I knew he wasn't to blame for his current state. It was mine, and I didn't want to hurt anyone else again. "I know you're angry at me!" I said as desks were sliced in half and chairs shattered with the slicing of our blades, "And I deserve it, I know! I mistreated everyone here."

"Mistreated?! Hah, that's a laugh! You tortured everyone here! You hung Sayori multiple times, made Yuri go and kill herself, and just tossed Natsuki aside like she was nothing more than a pest!"

It hurt to hear this again, but one thing kept me going: the ending of Jon's poem to me. **I forgive you, Monika**. Motoyasu was pushing me back into a corner now. "Yes, you're right! I did unspeakable things to the girls and to you! I won't ever be able to take them back! But what about Libitina? What will she do if she wins? Do you honestly think she really loves you?"

"How dare you?! Of course she does!" He doubled his efforts against me, most likely fueled by a rage and madness of thousands of years of game playthroughs. With a single slash, he hit my blade so hard that it flew out of my hands, turning off in the process. I stumbled back into the closet, trying to escape him. He brought the blade to my neck. "You're a monster. I will not tolerate your existence any longer!" His hate filled gaze was also filled with pain and sorrow.

"Please no…" I begged, hands raised.

"Time to die, bi-URGH!" Motoyasu's words were interrupted by a blue lightsaber blade sticking through his chest. Turning behind him, eyes wide with surprise, he said, "…Why…Sayori…?" With that he fell, chest smoking.

Sayori held her own glowing blue blade in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Motoyasu…I'm so sorry…"

Slowly getting up, I approached my friend and wrapped my arms around her. She stood there, not making a move. "Sayori…I-"

"Don't apologize, Monika. I know you tried. I just…he was too far gone. I didn't want to see my best friend hurt the one I see as a big sister." She deactivated her blade and stood there, softly crying as she mourned the loss of her friend.

I shed a few tears too. Despite my constantly wanting to be with the player, I'd always had a soft spot for Motoyasu. No, I never loved him romantically but I was fond of him. I slowly released Sayori. Yuri and Natsuki were still a few feet away, Natsuki trying to wake Yuri up. "I don't want to be insensitive," I said, "but we can mourn later. We have to go help-"

The doors to the clubroom exploded inward as a figure was thrown through, hitting the opposite wall with enough force to cause the wall to crack. I heard something metallic clatter to the floor. Standing in the doorway, eyes and lightsaber glowing red, was Libitina. "I think it's time we ended this farce, once and for all!" She rushed at Jon, blade extended towards his throat…

* * *

**Again, this story's taking a life of its own now. Not even I anticipated Sayori's actions here! Anyways, enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	19. Jon vs Libitina

"Oho? Looks like you're beginning to slow down, Sensei." Libitina, still in Monika's form, was grinning wickedly as I backed away to try and catch a brief breath. However, she was having none of it. She pressed the attack, her red blade slashing through the air faster and faster…or was I getting slower? I wasn't going to let it show, however. I glared at her angrily. "Yes! Yes! There it is! The anger and frustration I want to see!" She ran at me, weapon at the ready. I deflected her deftly placed strikes at every vulnerable spot she could find, but my body, even in the game simulation, was weak and unused to such vigorous exercise.

A few moments earlier, Motoyasu had gotten past my defense but there was nothing I could do about it. I was having a hard enough time keeping up with my current opponent as it was. I deflected and tried to press an attack of my own whenever I saw an opportunity, but the martial arts knowledge I had was only focused on hand-to-hand combat. _I guess my benefactors didn't think I'd go full nerd and make lightsabers_. "Don't you think you're going too far, you idiot?" I asked, keeping the panting out of my voice and forcing myself to sound smug despite not feeling it. I had to keep her angry and distracted while the others fulfilled the mission.

Her eyes filled with rage again. "How dare you!?"

I chuckled and stuck my tongue out at her. "What a moron you are. With all the smarts you say you have, you can't even find a way to delete me."

"Hah! But I have found a way to hurt you! Been feeling a bit…down lately have we?"

I clenched my teeth in anger. "Those transfers…it was you?!"

She giggled as we faced off, circling each other as we looked for an opening. "Correct," she said with a triumphant tone. "I must admit, breaking that firewall was impossible, but every firewall has a loophole."

I was in full on rage mode now. "That was a big mistake," I said calmly.

"Hahaha! Yay I broke you!" She held her hands up excitedly, almost like a kid opening presents on Christmas. "Now time to finish you."

With that, she unleashed a flurry of strikes against me that I had a harder time defending against than before. I tried keeping out of her range, but she only closed the distance again and again. My body screamed for a break, but I kept forcing it to obey my every whim. I couldn't let the girls be caught by her. Suddenly she broke through my defense and I felt a kick to the chest. I was flung through a door at speeds I never knew were possible, only to crash into the wall. Libitina stood in the doorway, eyes glowing red. "I think it's time we ended this farce, once and for all!" She rushed at me, blade extended towards my throat-

-Only to be deflected by a bright green blade. Someone stood between me and Libitina wearing the female version of the school uniform. Her long hair flowed almost majestically as she stood protectively between me and Libitina. "I will kill you if you touch him!" Monika screamed at Libitina.

I heard Libitina click her tongue in disappointment. "Well, seems like Motoyasu failed. Eh, he wouldn't have lived long anyway."

I looked to my right. Sayori stood near the closet, tears still streaming down her face. Nearby, Natsuki was helping Yuri to her feet. Monika rushed Libitina, her more youthful strength seeming to take Libitina off guard. As the two took their own fight out of the clubroom and into the hallways again, Sayori rushed over. "Jon, are you okay?!" she asked, terror seeping into her voice.

"I'm fine," I lied, trying to reassure her. I sat up and winced. Thankfully nothing was broken.

"Don't lie," Natsuki said as she and Yuri came over and sat next to me, Yuri immediately wrapping her arms around me. _Geez, she's even more of a hugger than Monika is_. "I saw that look of pain."

I sighed. "She's not going to be easy to defeat," I said. "And I think she's toying with us. Where's the cone?"

Yuri held up the two pieces of the cone. "H-Here it is."

I took it and placed it back together. "Help me up." The girls helped me back to my feet. Sayori gave me my weapon back. "I think I know what this thing is," I said, holding the cone in my hand.

"What is it?" Yuri asked.

"It's the key," I said. "The key to saving you all. Aaaah, all this knowledge and I didn't think to read the papers in the suitcase that thoroughly! I hope they uploaded it into my head."

I closed my eyes and tried to search through the new database I'd been given earlier. Using the command console I searched for keywords such as Cone. I found a file hidden among the many layers of information. I virtually opened it and read. It was encoded in Base64 but I now knew how to read it. As I read, the blood drained from my face and I tensed up. _This isn't good_… After re-reading it multiple times I closed it. "Okay, I think I understand what I need to do now." I closed the folder and tossed it aside. "I'm fine now, Yuri. Let me go. I've got to face Libitina again."

"How come?" Sayori asked.

"As a fellow person from reality, I'm the only one who can defeat her. No offense to you guys. Now let go."

Instead, Yuri held me tighter. "No, you're going to do something without us." I felt dampness against the back of my neck. Looking up I saw Yuri crying softly.

"Yuri, I have to do this. It's the only way we can get out. Now Let. Me. Go."

Startled by my authoritarian tone, Yuri loosened her grip. I slowly stood and grabbed my lightsaber. At that moment Monika and Libitina reentered the room. Monika looked exhausted now, but her eyes were glowing brightly with rage. Libitina's expression was one of smug victory. "I think it's time to cut out the playtime," Libitina said. She swiped the air with her finger. "I've enjoyed the fight, but now it's time to make you all forget!"

I caught an incredible second wind at that moment. I launched myself at Libitina and grabbed her by the throat. Her expression changed to shock. I turned to Monika. "Monika! Get the other girls out of the school! I'll be right behind you!"

"I'm not abandoning you again!" Monika said. I heard regret in her tone.

I looked at her and blew her a kiss. "Remember that poem. I forgive you, Monika. I love you! Now GO!"

Monika deactivated her lightsaber and looked at me grimly. "I love you too. You'd better be right behind us!" She ushered the girls out.

The moment they were out of the classroom I snapped my fingers. The doors closed and locked. I released Libitina but the scenery around us instantly changed. The overturned desks all vanished except for one, a single desk with two chairs. The red sunset outside vanished and the windows only showed an empty void. Libitina looked around confused, then she turned towards me and grinned. "You're only delaying the inevitable, you know that right, Sensei? I can escape your passwords with ease."

"Escape? To where?" I quickly slammed the red cone on the desk. The ground beneath us shook violently and the two of us fell down. I stayed down as the ground shook hard enough to crack the world in half. At least, that was what it seemed like to me. As quickly as it began, the shaking stopped.

I sat up only to be kicked in the face. Someone grabbed the lapels of my coat and pulled me up, but the girl who looked back at me wasn't the Monika lookalike. This one was a young teenage American girl with curly blonde hair and red glowing eyes full of anger. She wore the uniform of the school. "What the fuck did you just do?!"

I grinned smugly. "What do you think I did? I saved the girls and trapped you."

She leaned in, eyes aflame. "I hate you!"

"Hate me all you want," I said, kicking her square in the chest, sending her into the wall where the door once had been, "But I've permanently severed all links to reality. You're trapped here with me in the ultimate prison. Now then…" I took a breath and activated my lightsaber. "Time to save you…"

Screaming in utter rage she launched herself at me. Grinning I prepared for the counterattack…

* * *

MONIKA POV

The moment Jon locked the door I knew he'd lied to me. "Oh no you don't!" I tried rushing back to him but the ground all around us began to shake violently, sending the four us to the floor. Despite the rumbling and shifting, I crawled towards the door. I saw a bright light emanating from the inside and suddenly dissipate. When the light vanished, the rumbling stopped. The doors to the clubroom were still closed. I rushed over and slammed them open. It was then that I noticed it was dark. I turned on the light only to see nothing but the overturned desks. Jon and Libitina were gone.

"Monika? What happened?" Yuri came up next to me and looked in. Sayori and Natsuki followed quickly. "Where's Jon?"

I clenched my fists angrily and tried to open a command console. To my confusion, however, I was unable to do so. I tried again and again, but nothing happened. "I can't open a console…"

The other girls looked at each other, then tried on their own. Judging from their reactions, they couldn't as well. "Monika…what does this mean?" Natsuki asked.

"I don't know," I said. I looked out the window, wondering if the two of them had escaped through there. It was then I saw something unusual outside. Quickly turning out the lights I rushed back to the window and looked out in disbelief. "Guys…please tell me I'm seeing things…" I said, voice shaking.

The others approached and looked out the window. All three froze as they saw, in the distance, three mountains rising tall above the town. The sun was completely down and the stars of the Milky Way were clearly visible. "What…what does this mean, Monika?" Sayori asked, sounding as scared as I felt.

I tried to answer, but nothing came. "Wait," I said as an idea came to my mind. Turning I sprinted out of the clubroom.

"Monika wait up!" Sayori shouted.

"Meet me at Jon's place!" I shouted back, running out of the school. The air was surprisingly cold outside, but I ignored it as I ran down the hill down towards the small apartment complex. Bursting in I turned on the light and rushed over to the television. I slammed my hand down on the red button on the TV stand. "Come on…answer damn you!"

The TV sputtered to life and the woman from before appeared. "Oh thank God, it worked…" I heard her say.

"'It worked' my ass!" I screamed. "Where's Jon!?"

By this time the others had arrived but I barely registered them. The girl on the screen looked at me sadly. "You sure you want to know?"

"Just tell me, damn you!" Tears were streaming down my face.

"Which would you like first, the good news or the bad news."

"Good news! And it better be that Jon is safe!" I said threateningly.

She sighed. "The good news is that your dream is finally realized, Monika. You and the entire town are now in reality."

My heart dropped. "…What's the bad news…?"

She lowered her head. "Jon is trapped in the Eternal Classroom…with Libitina."

"Then get him out!"

"It's not that simple," the woman said. "I'm sure you know why."

I hit the table in despair. "The time differential shouldn't matter! Bring him out!"

"That is the plan. Don't worry, he'll be by your side…hopefully with a surprise." She smiled, somewhat knowingly. "See you soon." The screen went dark.

Leaning back against the side of the bed, I covered my eyes with my arm, all sorts of emotions running through me. "Damn you, Jon…why didn't you let me help…?"

"Monika?"

I looked up and fully registered the girls for the first time. Yuri had been the one who'd spoken. She sat next to me and, without another word, held me close. The others hugged me as well. I wept bitterly. "What's wrong?" Natsuki asked. "If Jon's trapped, the people who brought us ehre should be able to get him out, right?"

"It's not that simple…the Eternal Classroom has different time rules than even the normal game…Right now, Jon is experiencing years in minutes…"

* * *

JON'S POV

I stood on a large hill overlooking a massive army of Roman Legionnaires who were all armed to the teeth. I held my lightsaber in my in my hand, its once sleek and smooth hilt now battered after countless battles. Had it been years since I'd appeared here? My overgrown hair and beard told me I'd been fighting Libitina nonstop for a long time. Ever since I'd begun my fight with this ghost of a girl, I'd never felt the need to eat or sleep. There seemed to be no negative effects for me. Perhaps it was because the knowledge of the code was finally fully integrated into me after all this time.

"How…how long are you going to fight me!?" The leader of the Roman soldiers, all clones of Libitina, called up to me.

"I won't stop. You're dangerous. If I stopped, you'd find a way into reality and destroy our world." I let the soldiers charge me…

Sitting on the back of a broom, I held my wand out and deflected every attack Libitina threw at me. She wore the Slytherin uniform and her eyes still glowed as we circled each other in the rain. Below us Hogwart's burned brightly. "Just die! Avada Kedavra!"

I deflected her spell. Wearing the uniform of Gryffindor I just stared her down. "How long are you going to insist on fighting? You're not going to win! Expeliamus!" I flicked my wand at her…

I stood on a Civil War battlefield, watching as the Confederate army, consisting of all Libitinas. Their general approached me, the real Libitina. I had lost count of how many years she and I had fought. "This is getting tiresome," I shouted as I stood alone on the hill, my Union uniform dusty and caked with dried mud.

"Then just let me go!" She had begun to sound desperate.

I activated my lightsaber and held it out. "I can't let you do that," I said stonily…

I sat in the captain's chair of the _USS Enterprise_, looking at the ruined Starfleet vessels around Wolf 359. The ship was hailed and with a snap I answered. A single Borg female stepped forward on the screen. "Surrender yourself, Captain Price," she said with the collective voice of the Borg behind her. "Resistance is Futile."

"I won't ever surrender." I pressed the firing stud and transphasic torpedoes flew out from the launch tubes…

The two of us stood in the middle of a violent thunderstorm in the City. We circled each other, both of us wearing pure black. Libitina wore a suit and sunglasses. Surrounding us were other Libitinas, watching the final battle between the One and the Rogue. "Come now, just surrender please…I need to make them pay."

"And in your quest for revenge, you'd wipe out the human race," I replied, hands held up in a fighting stance.

"Why should they live?! They did this to me just as much as those damned government bastards!" I saw the red glow behind her sunglasses.

"Would you punish a child for the sins of their father?"

Libitina rushed forward, shoving her hand into my chest. Black tendrils crawled up my body…

I stood in front of the TARDIS, gently adjusting my bow tie. In front of me stood Daleks and Cybermen, all attempting to breach my ship's barrier. "You may have years of experience of coding on me," I said, "but I have proper real life experience."

"Exterminate!"

"Delete!"

Libitina approached, sitting in Davros' chair. A glowing blue third eye had grown from her forehead. "Don't get cocky, Doctor. You won't win."

"I've already won," I said. "Not only are the girls and the entire town safe, but you've finally forgotten my name." I raised my sonic screwdriver…

On and on it went, switching from battlefield to battlefield. As I continued to fight her, I got to not only finally comprehend and digest all the knowledge in my repertoire better but I got to know Libitina better. She had only known sorrow and pain. She did know a bit about her family from her brief access to the internet before she was locked up. Her actual name was Elizabeth Randall, but her parents called her Libby instead. Her parents were named Harold and Jezebel Randall. Harold was a banker at a high-profile bank while Jezebel worked as a creator of websites while making entertaining YouTube videos on the side. Both parents apparently were killed in a suspicious hit-and-run and she was adopted by a government agent.

She was taken to some strange location where she was tortured in the most brutal way possible before her mind forcibly uploaded itself into the mainframe of the most powerful computer drive ever created at the time. She learned quickly. She eventually began working on a way to get out, but somehow ended up in the Doki Doki game. Before she could do anything, firewalls went up and kept her trapped in the original game. It seemed as if Monika's sapience had little to do with Libitina, but the presence of a true human sapience did speed up the process. It was hard to get the truth out of her because every time we fought she kept telling me conflicting stories about her past.

Of course, not all the time I spent in the Classroom was all fighting. I would study as well to keep me sane. I learned about thirty different languages or so, and even invented a few of my own. In the time the two of us had spent fighting, Libitina and I had developed a language all our own.

I didn't want to lose my humanity and desperately clung to my memories of the real world. Every time I felt lost, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the ancient white ribbon I still wore. Every time I saw it, I saw the face of my beloved as well as the other women I loved dearly…

The two of us faced off in the Eternal Classroom. Our clothes, the ones we'd entered this room in, were torn and tattered after years of fighting. Libitina looked at me, a look of utter defeat in her eyes. She was literally waving a white flag. "Hey…Sensei…I'm tired…can't we sit down and discuss this? For once?"

"Get rid of all your weapons first," I demanded.

"Fine fine!" She took out guns, knives, phasers, lightsabers, blasters and many other weapons from her person and tossed them in the corner. In all the time we'd fought, I'd only ever kept one weapon, my now centuries old lightsaber. I brought it out and tossed it into the opposite corner. Simultaneously we approached the single desk and sat.

"So, Libitina, what do you talk about?"

* * *

**Almost done...enjoy!**

**morbiusgreen**


	20. Escape to Reality

She lowered her gaze. "Sensei, you win."

Startled by her words, I leaned forward. "Libitina?"

She looked up at me, a smile of acceptance on her face. "I'm sure you know this by now, but I can't go back to being human…not in the traditional sense anyway. I'm just an echo of the real Libitina, or rather, Elizabeth. If I attempt to go back, I'll be forced to become a formless AI."

"I'd had a suspicion," I admitted. "Libby, over the time we've fought, I think I've gotten to understand you. I know why you're so angry, and I can't blame you for feeling that way."

Libitina tensed up and I saw tears fall for the first time since I'd met her. She seemed to shrink until she appeared as a young child. My heart broke for this poor girl. I knew even back then that she wasn't purely wicked, just hurting deeply. "I wish I could save you too…"

She smiled through her tears. "I want that too, but it's impossible. I think…you're the only one who can truly understand me. We were both forced into this."

I chuckled. "I wasn't really forced, but yes, I think I understand you better."

She looked down sadly. "Sensei…I never I thought I'd say this, but I'm sorry. I caused pain to you and the others. I don't deserve to be saved."

I shook my head. "Don't say that. You've been through a lot, everyone deserves a second chance."

She smiled a bit. "I can see why Monika fell for you. You're definitely a good man when you're sane."

I laughed. I knew where she was coming from with that good-natured ribbing. Over the years I'd not only been fighting Libitina, but my own personal demons. I'd spent time in a library I'd created, the place where I studied languages and anything else I could. Hell I even learned piano. It was the only place where I'd made multiple copies of myself just so I could talk and work through my own lingering issues. I realized then I'd become so self-pitying it was pathetic. With the help of my doppelgangers I'd come to accept the things I couldn't change. I talked through my worries and fears until they were nothing more than a memory, but I never wanted to forget them either. They were a part of who I was, after all. "Thanks, Libby." I reached out and the lightsaber appeared in my hand again, only I attached it to my belt. "If I could, I'd save you."

"Why don't I save her, then?" a new voice said.

I turned and saw the woman from the television standing in the middle of the room. It took me a while to realize that she'd spoken in the language that Libitina and I had developed. "What…how did you get here?"

She shook her head. "Come with me and you'll see. We can't stay here long." Behind her a door appeared. She grabbed our hands and pulled us through it. I was nearly blinded by the bright lights, but as my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was in a long hallway. Behind us the door vanished, revealing a window to the outside.

Libitina and I approached the window, staring through it in awe. "My God…" I said. Despite having been fighting in scenarios from my own imagination, I was still stunned by the view presented before me.

Through the window I saw a bright and unfamiliar starscape, dotted with impossibly bright stars. Below us I saw a large planet with a yellow hue to its atmosphere and a large set of rings orbiting it. The clouds of the planet below, what I assumed was a gas giant, roiled and flashed with internal storms. "Where…are we?" Libitina asked.

"Research Station Midokita, orbiting the gas giant Argo in the Velar System. We're about a thousand or so light years from the galactic core," the woman said.

Despite my awe at the scene before me, I turned and smiled at the woman. "Midokita? Really?"

"Spoilers, Jon. Spoilers. Now come along. There isn't much time left to save Elizabeth." She motioned for us to follow her.

"No, I want an explanation," Libitina said.

I moved to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but my hand passed through her. She flickered as did I. Stumbling forward I looked up questioningly at the woman in front of me. "So do I."

She sighed. "There's no time for the long story. Suffice to say both your programs have been finally transferred to the station's computer core. You're only able to take these forms because of the holographic projectors placed all over the station. I'm sorry, but there isn't time for a more detailed explanation!" She lifted Libitina into her arms with one swoop, then grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall.

"Ah!" I tried to keep up as she dragged me down the hall. "Slow down!"

"There isn't anymore time!" She tightened her grip on me and continued down the hall. Eventually I managed to keep pace with her.

"If what you're saying is true," I said, "Couldn't you just transfer our programs to wherever you're taking us?"

"Can't risk you being decompiled in the transfer. You two aren't like normal programs, you're actual people who've been uploaded to a digital frame." She arrived at a door and punched in some kind of code. It slid open to reveal a small room. We stepped inside and the door hissed shut. "Computer core," the woman said. The lights in the small room, which I guessed was some sort of elevator, lit up and I heard a humming sound. A couple seconds later the door hissed open and we found ourselves in a massive spherical room. It looked to be about the diameter of a football field and in the center was a large spherical glowing object. It reminded me of a dim miniature sun. There was a set of stairs heading up to a circular walkway that surrounded the small sun. She dragged us up there and we stopped in front of what I guessed was a computer console. She put Libitina down and her hands began to dance over the console. "You're right about one thing," she said, "Elizabeth can't be made human anymore. Well, not in your time anyway."

"My time…? What the hell do you mean?!" Libitina asked.

"Surely you've realized the truth about where you are," the woman said. "Or when."

"Time travel?" I asked, wondering how this was even possible.

"It's something like that," she said as she stopped and looked at the two of us. "Now listen. We have the technology to bring Elizabeth into reality in a human form, but we can't do the same in your time. Not someone like her." She looked at me. "You're different, though. Your physical parameters were uploaded as well as your mental parameters. I can send that information back and reintegrate you into your reality."

I looked at the woman. "So…she'd live?"

"Yes, but here in our future." She put her hands on Libitina's shoulders. "I will take full responsibility for her, I promise."

"Sensei…" Libitina looked at me. Her eyes were pleading. "If it means I get to live without hurting anyone, I'll stay here."

In another life, in another time, I'd have argued against her decision, saying that there had to be another way, that I didn't want to lose her. But even now, even though I still wanted to bring her with me and give her a proper life, she'd never fit in back in our world. I shook my head and smiled. "Li-No, Elizabeth. Listen to me." I knelt to face her. "I'll miss you. I know we've been only fighting this entire time, but I'll miss you. You be good and listen to your mother. Have a good life, okay?"

She smiled at me and reached out her hand. I did the same and our hands phased through each other. "Goodbye, Sensei. I hope you enjoy your life."

"I will." I stood and faced the mystery woman. "Alright, what do I do?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. Just stand where you are." She returned to her console and began pressing controls again. I felt that same tingling sensation in my holographic body. I closed my eyes and smiled again. "Alright, I've got everything ready. Here we go." I looked over at her and she was smiling at me widely. "Goodbye Grandpa…"

My eyes widened in surprise but before I could ask anything, she hit a console and the world dissolved around me. The next thing I knew I was sitting up. It was dark around me, but it felt as if I was lying in pine needles and twigs. I instinctively grabbed my lightsaber and tried to activate it, but when I did nothing happened. When I attempted to open a command console nothing happened as well. "It worked…I'm back. But where?"

I let my eyes adjust and saw that I was in a forest. The only light I saw was through the trees down whatever hill I was on. I finally managed to make my way through the brush and undergrowth. When I emerged, I saw the lights of a city at night lying before me. I began running towards it. I eventually reached the edge of the city. "It's Midokita…" I said to myself, panting. A sign on the side of the road confirmed it. "But…there were no hills nearby." I turned around and my eyes widened as I saw three mountains in the distance. "I'll think about that later!" I ran through the streets. As I reached the more densely populated areas of the Japanese city, I saw no one else on the roads. I guessed that the time was late.

Finally, I reached my apartment. I opened it quickly and stumbled in. The lights were on inside but I didn't hear anything. Removing my ancient shoes, I moved quietly inside. I saw to my great relief that all the girls were all there, asleep in various places around the main room. Monika was lying in my bed, eyes puffy and clinging onto my pillow, Yuri was lying against my bookshelf, one of my books in her hand, Sayori was sleeping with her head on my table, my laptop opened and a random MST3K movie on, and Natsuki was leaning against the side of the bed, one of the few manga I had in her hands.

I quietly grabbed a change of clothes and ran a bath. I closed the laptop and turned out the lights so they could sleep. After one of the best baths in existence, I shaved my beard, trimmed my hair, got dressed and, after grabbing my phone from the table where I'd left it all those subjective years ago, stepped outside and called my sister.

"H-Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded disbelieving, but I could still recognize my own sister's voice.

"Hey Becca," I said with a smile on my face. "no, you're not dreaming, it really is me."

There was silence on the other line, and then I heard sobbing. "Jon…it's really you…"

"Hold on, sis. I want to see your face. Let's Facetime."

I heard her sniff. "Yes, please…"

My sister looked the same as ever. She was lying in a hospital bed but still had that youthful beauty I remembered. The moment she saw me, her eyes widened and she held a hand over her mouth. "It really is you…Oh Jon…"

I smiled at her. "Hey, don't cry sis. Everything's alright now. Did you get told about what happened to me?"

She nodded. "About five or so hours ago one of the doctors finally explained what happened to you. They would only assure me that you were safe before then." She chuckled. "I still find it hard to believe. You went into Doki Doki Literature Club's world. But…I checked earlier and the game is gone from the internet. Did…you really save them all?"

"I couldn't save the MC," I said sadly, "but the girls are all safe. They're sleeping in my apartment."

"Let me see them, please?"

"Not now, sis," I said. "They're still sleeping." I cleared my throat. "I have a feeling we're going to be the main topic on the news soon enough. An entire town doesn't just appear next to the Three Sisters overnight after all." I chuckled. "I really wish you were here now. Monika told me she wants to meet you."

She smiled knowingly. "You went for Monika, didn't you?"

"Of course, I did," I said with a smile back. "Although I got kissed by all four of them."

She laughed. "My brother, the harem protagonist," she said, wiping tears of amusement from her eyes. "Oh man, well I'm glad you saved them bro." She looked past the phone and exchanged words with someone. "Wait, really?…I can?…So that's where we are…" She turned back to me. "Hey, I was just told I'm going to come to you. This place is close to the city. I've got to hang up but they told me I'd be there in around twenty minutes." She looked at me. "I'll see you soon, Jon."

"You too, Becca. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and leaned against the railing of my apartment, looking up at the brilliant stars above. The time passed slowly, which I found ironic since I'd lived multiple lifetimes fighting in that eternal space. "Heh, I must have really missed her." The breeze suddenly picked up. I shivered. "I need a blanket…" I turned and opened the door. The moment I did so I was met by a pair of angry green eyes glaring at me. "Ooooh, shit…"

Monika stepped forward, hands on her hips. She still wore her school uniform which right now looked disheveled. Her eyes were still a bit puffy and bloodshot. She closed the door behind her. "Jon, do you know why I'm angry?"

I held my hands up as she backed me into a corner of the balcony. "I have a sneaking feeling I do."

"You lied to me, Jon. You said you'd be right behind me!" She grabbed my hoodie and pulled me forward. "I should break up with you right now for your betrayal…" She released me. "But…you're here now. I think living as long as you have in that hell is punishment enough." She looked up at me, wiping a tear from her face, a smile on her lips. "Welcome home dear…"

I walked over to her and took her hands in mine. "It's good to be home again." I twirled her and pulled her close so her back was against my chest. "By the way, you're not going to believe what happened during those last few minutes in the Classroom." So saying, I told her about mine and Elizabeth's last meeting in the Eternal Classroom and our transport to the future.

"So…they saved Libitina?"

"Elizabeth," I corrected her, "and yes. Does that bother you?"

She chuckled softly. "I think now I better understand how the other girls feel about me now." She leaned against me as we watched the stars. "I acted childish back then, didn't I?"

"You weren't childish," I reassured her. "You were just scared. But don't worry, there's no need for you to be scared anymore. You're in reality now."

"More importantly, I'm with you," she added.

I chuckled and rubbed her hair. "Flatterer."

She laughed softly. "Of course, dear."

"Dear? What are we, an old married couple now?" I teased.

"Not yet, but someday, I hope we are." The two of us remained silent for a while. "Did…you wear the bow I gave you all that time?"

I chuckled and reached behind me. The clean white bow was back where it had always been during my exile. "Yes I did, and I don't intend to take it out ever again."

"You're a hopeless romantic," Monika said, reaching back and poking my nose.

"He wouldn't have fallen for you otherwise," someone said. We both turned and I was delighted to see my sister standing there at the end of the staircase. She had a cane which she used as she hobbled towards me. "No, don't break the hug," she said as she saw me move towards her. She looked at my head and giggled. "Jon, you look absolutely adorable with Monika's bow in your hair." She then looked at Monika. "And Monika, you look absolutely beautiful with your hair down." She wrapped her arms around the both of us.

"It's nice to meet you, Price-san," Monika said with a wide grin, returning the hug.

"Call me Rebecca," she said, shedding happy tears as she held us both.

"Nice to meet you then, Rebecca," Monika said. "If you're even half as amazing as your brother is, I will be glad to call you friend."

She chuckled. "I'm glad Jon was able to rescue you girls, but especially you, Monika." She broke the hug and smiled at the two of us. "Where are the other Dokis?"

"Asleep in my apartment," I said. "I'll show you." Monika released me and I led Rebecca to my apartment. When I opened the door and turned on the light, I was relieved to see the three girls still asleep.

"Oh my God…they're so cute," Rebecca said.

"Just don't let Natsuki hear you," I said with a smile.

"I can't wait to talk to them," Rebecca said. She began coughing slightly.

"You're still recovering, aren't you? Come on, Becca, let's get you into bed," I said, leading her to my bed.

"Jon, I'm fine really," she said after recovering from her coughing fit.

"Let me worry about my favorite little sister, okay?" I tousled her hair. "You're still recovering from that…thing right?"

She held her stomach. "I know you're worried, but I'm fine. But…if you insist." She lay in my bed and I covered her up. "But what about you two?"

I looked at Monika who looked back at me. We looked back at her. "We'll be fine," Monika said. "Anywhere we sleep will be comfortable enough." She intertwined her hand in mine and squeezed.

"Oh wow, you two really fell hard for each other," Rebecca said. "Alright. Oh Jon, the person who brought me here is waiting to see you."

"Alright, I'll see to them in a bit," I replied.

"Hmm? Whu…?" Someone stirred. Natsuki slowly sat up and stretched. "Who's there?"

"Hey Natsuki," I said.

She turned at my voice. "Jon?! You're back already?!" She stood and nearly hugged me but stopped. "Not like I was worried or anything…" She wiped her eyes. "Dummy…"

I pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry I worried you," I said softly.

"Y-You didn't worry me…" She clung to me as she said this. "I knew you'd be all right."

"She's just as tsundere as in the game," Rebecca said.

"I'm not tsundere-wait, who are you?" Natsuki looked past me, breaking the hug.

"Oh sorry, this is my younger sister Rebecca Price," I said. "Becca, this is Natsuki Kobayashi."

"Wait, you have a last name?" Rebecca looked up at me confused.

"That confused me too, but yes they do. Monika's last name is Nakamura, Yuri's is Tanaka and Sayori's is Suzuki."

"I see," she said.

"Natsuki, if you're not too tired, could you look after my sister? She's still weak from an illness she's recovering from. There's something outside I need to take care of."

Natsuki smiled. "Of course I will. I think you have the ingredients for rice porridge."

"Thanks Natsuki. I owe you big time."

"When have you not?" she asked with a teasing grin.

I chuckled. "Be back in a bit." I headed to the door, Monika following close behind me.

As we headed down the stairs I saw a black SUV parked next to the apartment building. A man in an official looking suit was leaning against the driver side door looking at his phone. When we approached he looked up and put his phone away. "Aah, Mr. Price, so glad to see you. Same to you Ms. Nakamura. Sorry for calling you out here at such a late hour. My name is Edward Falls. A pleasure to meet you."

* * *

**Safe! A chapter or two left!**

**morbiusgreen**


	21. Intro to Reality

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Falls," I said as we shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet the savior of the cyber realm," he said with a wide grin. "And to meet one of the Dokis is a pleasure as well." He bowed politely to Monika. "Well, I'm going to get right down to it. The appearance of Midokita hasn't quite gone unnoticed. The American government is mobilizing a task force to come and investigate the appearance of this city next to the Three Sisters."

"American? Why American?" Monika asked.

"Ah, well see those mountains?" he said, pointing to the three mountains nearby. "Those are the Three Sisters, three very close mountains in the Cascade Range, located in Oregon."

"Oh, I see…"

"I know you're confused, Ms. Nakamura," Edward said. "One of our representatives will be contacting the US Government shortly to explain everything. I'm here for two reasons actually. One is to answer any questions you might have for us."

"Great, but can we do it where it's warmer?" I asked.

He opened the door to the backseat. "The car's warm and we won't be heard." I let Monika get in first and I followed. Edward got into the front and started the car. Warm air began blowing out of the vents. "So first things first, Mr. Price. Do you or Ms. Nakamura have any questions?"

"I've got several," I said. "First question: how long have I bene gone from reality?"

"You vanished around ten days ago according to this world's time."

_Okay, that's not bad_. "So…why was the city placed here?" Monika asked before I could get a question in. "Why not in Japan where the game was set?"

"We were wondering the same thing too," Edward said, "and we never got a straight answer from the people who hired us. The running theory back at HQ is that since this game was made in the US, none of the people inside would be able to speak Japanese, so they transported this city to America."

"Well, why not England or Australia?" I asked.

"Like I said, it's just a theory," Edward said. "We're not entirely sure."

I sighed. "Okay fine. So…next question: what do we do now? The game's over, the real world awaits us, but I've no idea what to do next. We're obviously going to be a big deal in the world from now on."

"If you're worried about the Government, there's no need," he said. "Our organization will make sure you and the town remain safe."

"And what about the town? There's going to be mass panic," I said.

"Mr. Price, believe me, we've thought about everything. There's no need to worry so much."

Monika put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I nodded. "Alright, seeing as you've treated my sister with kindness and looked after her, I'll trust you."

"Thank you. Now if there are no more questions, I have one more piece of business with you." He handed me a folder.

"What is it?" I asked, opening it up. "Real Estate Deed…? What's this, seriously?"

"It's the deed to one of the largest houses in the city," he said. "You're going to need more room and more protection."

"Protection? From what?"

"From otaku, the press and more," Edward.

_Well, that does make sense, but…_ "Well, I mean it's nice to be a homeowner suddenly," I said, "but it _is_ sudden!"

"I know, and we're sorry about that," Edward said. "Tomorrow morning we'll be bringing a truck here and move all of your stuff to the new place. I'll be here as well to answer any questions the rest of you might have. Your mother and sister will also be moving in as well."

"Alright, well, thank you for everything you've done for me and my family." I shook his hand.

"It's been a privilege to help you," he said. "Now I need to head back. There's a lot of work to do and little time to do it in."

Monika and I got out and watched as Edward drove away, leaving the two of us standing in the empty street. A breeze blew suddenly and Monika shivered. "Let's go back inside," I said.

She grabbed my hand. "Not yet, I want to be alone with you."

I smiled. "Then here." I unzipped my hoodie and wrapped it around her. She held it close as we walked to the park and sat. Monika leaned against my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

"Jon, what do you think the future holds for us in this world?" Monika asked. "I'm a bit nervous. Ever since I came here, I've felt helpless, and not just because I can't access the command console now. Is this what it means to be human? To not know what the future holds?"

I pulled her closer. "Every human is unsure of the future. It's what makes us free. You don't have to worry, though," I said. "I'll make sure you're all safe."

She snuggled closer to me. "I know you will. I'm just venting."

We sat next to each other, keeping each other warm and just enjoying the late autumn evening. Eventually Monika asked if we could go back inside. When we got back the other two girls were awake and talking to my sister. When I came back in, Yuri and Sayori looked over. When they saw me, Sayori's eyes glistened with tears and Yuri simply smiled. Sayori ran over and hugged me tightly. "We've been so worried!" she said.

I held her back. Monika watched this exchange with a smile. "I'm sorry for worrying all of you. Now, could you let go for a bit? There's a few things I need to tell all of you." Sayori released me, albeit reluctantly. I went and sat on the bed, Monika instantly sitting next to me on one side and Rebecca sitting on the other side. I began by telling them about where the city had ended up and about what the conversation with Edward had revealed. "And that about sums it up, I think."

"Well, I mean, not all of us need to go right?" Yuri said. "I still live at home, and Natsuki's still there too."

"I don't expect it to be an instant change," I replied. "Even if you're all in reality, you're still high school students. I'd definitely like you to finish school and graduate." I smiled. "And I'll still be your teacher."

Rebecca chuckled. "You're living all your fantasies, aren't you?" she said.

I gave her a playful shove. "Oh hush. But everyone should sleep now. We'll be busy tomorrow. After all, I am moving."

"Shame," Monika said. "I'm going to miss this cozy place."

"Me too," Sayori said. The other girls agreed quickly.

"Well, let's get set up," I said. "It's probably going to be crowded, so bear with it ladies."

In the end, Sayori and Natsuki, by virtue of being on the smaller side, shared a futon. Yuri took one next to them. Monika and I offered the bed to Rebecca but she insisted on sleeping on the floor. "I can tell you two are incredibly in love." She leaned in and suddenly whispered something to Monika who instantly flushed. "Sleep well you two. No hanky panky, though." She giggled as she lay down.

"What did she say to you?" I asked as I crawled into bed next to Monika.

"That's a secret," she whispered.

"Aww come on," I said.

She blushed heavily. "Nooo," she said cutely as she buried her face in my chest.

"Alright, alright," I said, hugging her close. "I won't bother you about it."

She relaxed and we lay there comfortably, the fan I used to sleep blowing cool air against the two of us. "It's been forever for me since I was able to hold you in my arms like this," I whispered.

"It felt like forever for me too," she said. "I felt so helpless when I watched Libitina break your heart." She grabbed my shirt and clung to it. "But you're here now. I feel so safe and comfortable."

"Me too."

We held each other for a while. Soon I heard Monika breathing softly and rhythmically. I relaxed and held her close. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was smelling pancakes and bacon. Monika was still asleep next to me. When I sat up I saw Sayori, Yuri and Rebecca sitting in front of my laptop watching some random MST3K movie. Rebecca noticed me first and giggled. "Nice bedhead."

I instinctively straightened my hair, causing all the other girls to laugh. I blushed. Monika chose that moment to sit up. Unlike me, her hair looked radiant and just seemed to flow down like coral brown waterfalls. "Man, how do you look so good and I look like a troll?" I asked in a teasing tone.

Monika turned to me and grinned. She approached me in an almost sultry manner and ran her hand through my hair. "I think you look super sexy," she said softly.

I backed away, startled by her sudden directness. "Whoa, easy there Monika, we're not alone."

She giggled and flicked my nose playfully. "Relax, I'm not gonna do anything." She leaned in and whispered, "but I really wanted to last night."

My cheeks felt hot immediately. She laughed and moved back. "See girls? I can make this man blush with just a few words."

My sister joined in the laughter. I felt completely embarrassed, but I was glad to see my sister laughing. I really hoped that she'd become close friends with the girls. Natsuki poked her head in. "Breakfast is almost ready. Pancakes, sausage, bacon, toast and eggs. A proper American breakfast." She flashed us a peace symbol.

"I'm surprised I haven't had to go shopping for breakfast food," I said as I moved off the bed.

"You're going to have to," Natsuki said. "I just used up the last of the ingredients."

"Well, that's low on my list of things to worry about today," I said. "Today is moving day, after all." I sat in my usual spot and Monika immediately slid next to me. All through breakfast Rebecca was all questions for everyone, asking me about the specifics of my adventures in the game as well as the lives of the Dokis. I washed the dishes as Rebecca continued to pester the girls with questions. As I was just finishing, I heard a sharp rap on the door.

"SS Moving Service," a strong looking man said pleasantly when I answered, tipping a red baseball cap with the letters "SS" on it at me. "We're here to move your stuff to the new house."

"I'm afraid we haven't packed anything," I said.

"That's alright. We can manage that," he said with a smile.

"Well, we're all going to be heading out soon. I'll give you the keys when we leave."

"Take your time. We'll have you moved in by the end of the school day."

I thanked him and went back inside. "I think we should at least try to get to school," I announced as I grabbed a suit out of the closet. "We need to perform some damage control." I ran into the bathroom and changed into the completely black suit. I said as I exited, running my hand over my hair. I had taken Monika's old bow and tied it around my neck.

"Oh my…you clean up nicely" Monika said as I walked in.

I chuckled a bit. "Thanks. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to this," I said. "Public speaking isn't my strong suit."

"But you've been teaching for at least a couple weeks," Sayori said.

"No, I'm planning on calling an assembly," I said. "I'm sure that we're not the only ones who've noticed the change in scenery." I grabbed my laptop and its plug and placed them in my suitcase.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Natsuki asked.

"There's a full playthrough of Doki Doki on this," I said. "I'm gonna show everyone parts of it." The room went silent. Rebecca looked a bit unsure, Monika looked guilty, and the others looked a bit scared. "Look, we can't lie to them about this. I know you all have mixed feelings about this, trust me. Think of it like ripping off a bandage so it doesn't hurt as much."

Monika stood and walked to my side, facing the others. "I'm trusting Jon," she said. "What about you? If not for him, then for the Literature Club."

The girls looked at each other. Sayori turned back first and stood, fists held up. "I'm in."

"Eh, what the hell? Might as well get it over with," Natsuki said as she stood as well.

"Y-yeah, good point," Yuri said.

"I'm going with you too," Rebecca said, standing slowly.

"Becca-"

"No Jon, you know you're not that good at public speaking," Rebecca said sternly. "We'll both explain what's happened. All of us will."

I nodded. "Alright, alright. You win."

"You've got to teach me how you do that," Monika said to my sister as we grabbed all our stuff.

"It's easy to manipulate him," Rebecca giggled.

I rolled my eyes. _Maybe I shouldn't worry. If she has the energy to make jokes she'll be fine_. "Alright ladies, let's go."

We left at the same time, heading towards the school with purpose. When we arrived I went into the principal's office.

"Ah, Jon-Sensei, I didn't expect to see you today, considering what's happened," the principal said. She looked tired and a bit worried, but otherwise alright. "I was just about to cancel school for today."

"Actually ma'am, I was hoping you wouldn't cancel it," I said. "Instead, I was hoping to have you call a special assembly. I know you won't believe me, but I know more about what's happening than anyone else here."

She looked at me curiously. "Could you let me know what your explanation is?"

"If I had the time to explain it twice I would," I said. "but the entire school needs to know, not just the teachers. And the explanation is a long one. Please, I know we've only known each other for less than two weeks, but I ask you to trust my judgement here."

I held my breath. I could almost hear the gears turning in the principal's head. "I don't like the idea, but you don't sound like you're mad or lying. Alright, I'll call the others and ask them to come to the special assembly at least."

"While you're at it," Monika said from the other room, "call some of the local news."

"Who was that?" the principal asked, looking past me.

Monika walked in and bowed. "My name is Nakamura Monika," she said, "President of the Literature Club, Ms. Principal. I know a bit about what's going on too."

"At this point, I'll believe anything," the principal said, rubbing her eyes. "Do you need anything else?"

"Yes. I need access to the projector. I'm going to be showing a few video clips. Trust me, it'll make sense in the end."

She sighed. "I'll have it set up for you. Will nine o'clock be alright?"

"Perfect."

"Alright. I hope you can shed some light on the subject."

_Me too_. I bowed and left, indicating to the others to follow me. "She didn't sound so much scared as tired," Rebecca said as we came to the school gates.

"I imagine she's probably stressed so much she's crashed," Yuri said. When we all looked at her in shock, she played with her hair nervously. "W-What?"

"That's…pretty astute of you," Rebecca said.

"Ah, I um…thank you." She looked away, blushing.

"And they call me the cute one," Natsuki said.

"Because you are!" Sayori said enthusiastically.

"I-I'm not cute!" Natsuki said, pouting immediately.

That did it. We all burst out laughing, even Natsuki after a while. The tension building among all of us was suddenly released in one long laughing session as we approached the indoor basketball court. "Alright, what do we do now?"

"Well, we need to connect my laptop to the projector," I said, opening it and looking around the stage for the proper cords. "I suppose the people the principal's sending would know better about that."

"Why don't we wait then?" Sayori said.

A couple minutes later someone arrived and helped me hook my laptop up to the main projector. Fortunately there was a plug nearby so I could keep my laptop charged. As we set up, students and teachers came trickling in. When I saw Edward walking in with an official looking man in a suit, I rushed over to meet them. "Edward, I didn't expect you here," I said, shaking his hand again.

"When we heard what you were planning, I brought Agent Matthews over from where we were meeting," he said. "Matthews, this is POI-1."

_POI-1? What's that mean?_ Matthews extended his hand and shook mine firmly. "Mr. Price, it's a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Falls has been telling me a lot about your actions here."

_Something tells me I shouldn't make jokes around this man_. "Sorry for any trouble we may have caused," I said sincerely.

"Well, it's not every day that a Japanese town lands squarely on American soil," Matthews said. "I hear you're about to explain what's happening to the AI?"

"Yes, but I don't think they're simply AI anymore," I said.

"Right, sorry. This is way above my paygrade," Matthews said. "I'm just here to secure the perimeter of the city."

"Could I ask that you not mistreat any of the citizens?" I asked. "I'm planning on broadcasting this explanation over public news and I don't want them to be any more panicked than they probably will be after my explanation."

"We're working with Mr. Fall's organization to make sure nothing happens."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." More and more students were entering as were the teaching staff. I saw Ito-Sensei look over and give me a quizzical look. I bowed to her slightly as she took a seat. "Agent Matthews, I'd like to talk to you more afterwards about this situation, but for now I really need to take care of this. You can take a seat anywhere you want. I don't know how long this will take. Hell, I don't even know half of what I'm going to say."

Edward put his hand on my shoulder. "You'll do fine. You have your sister and the Dokis. They'll help you for sure."

"I'll do my best." I saw a news crew come in at that moment. "Excuse me, I need to speak to them." I went over and spoke to the newswoman, a young woman named Watanabi Rikka. She seemed to think this would be the news story of her career and was excited to report about this. I told her that I would be explaining what had happened, but it would sound impossible.

"Three mountains appeared outside the town, anything you say would sound sane by comparison," Rikka said with enthusiasm.

_At least she isn't reacting poorly to this. She probably still thinks we're in Japan_. "Well, it may be distressing, but please keep the cameras rolling."

"Of course!"

I returned to the stage. The girls were in a circle, talking. "You okay?" I asked as I approached.

"I-I'm so nervous," Yuri said, playing with her hair.

"I'm not ready either," Natsuki said, face red.

"Don't worry, I'll do most of the talking," I said. "If I think you need to say a few words I'll ask but won't force you." The principal walked over to us at that moment. "Oh, help Madam Principal."

Her face was drawn and her brow was wrinkled with worry. "Are you sure you know what's going on here?" she asked.

"I do, but it's going to sound crazy," I said.

"As crazy as the entire landscape around Midokita changing overnight and the entire town passing out?"

_Passing out? When did that happen?_ "Yes, and perhaps even crazier."

She smiled tiredly. "I'll introduce you all soon, then tell us your crazy story."

"Thank you." _And I'm sorry that I'm about to bring your entire lives into question_. I looked at my phone. "Just a few more minutes until 9." _Welp, time to make history I suppose_. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Jon, you okay?" Monika asked.

"You know, it's funny. I fought someone for what feels like years, but something as simple as _this_ that's making me weak-kneed."

I felt a hand on my own. "You'll do fine," she said.

I nodded. "Yeah. Here we go."

The principal went to the front stage and cleared her throat. "Everyone, thank you for coming to this impromptu assembly. I appreciate the fact that you decided to come despite the current situation. However, one of our own staff as well as some of your fellow students have an explanation. At least, that's what they told me earlier. I'm not sure what they're going to say or how long this is going to be, mostly because they haven't told me. I turn the floor over to Jon Price." She turned to me and bowed.

I stood, straightened my tie and bowed back. I did my best to stride confidently to the podium. After clearing my throat, I began. "Hello everyone. My name is Jon Price, American History Teacher. What I have to say is not going to be easy to hear, but please hear me out while I explain." I took a deep breath. "I'll just come right out and say it, up until late last night, no one here was real in the sense you are now…"

* * *

**So close to being done! Enjoy! I think I have one more chapter before I complete this.**

**morbiusgreen**


	22. A Final Resolution? Or A New Beginning?

I lay in my bed in my new house late that evening, exhausted. "Did I really do the right thing?" I asked myself. The assembly had gone on longer than I had anticipated. I'd started by explaining as best I could that ever since that first Monday the entire town had been a part of one massive simulation/game. I then put on a video of a gameplay of Doki Doki Literature Club, explaining the plot as best I could. I didn't show the entire six hour video and I skipped some of the more disturbing scenes, explaining them instead. The Literature Club gave their own testimony throughout, Monika speaking out the most. None of the Dokis went without shedding a few tears on stage. Edward and Agent Matthews even stepped up near the end and said a few words about how the American government was willing and able to help the citizens of Midokita adjust to their new location.

"I know this information is extremely difficult to accept," I said in concluding remarks, my confidence boosting with every word, "especially since you have memories of a past before the Monday in question. But I want you all to know this: Just because you were part of a dark visual novel once upon a time, that doesn't make you all less human. Touch your neck and you'll feel a pulse. Put your hand in front of your mouth and you'll feel your own breathing. You're all individuals with feelings, desires and dreams. And you will be alright. Of that, I can promise you. Because I will make absolutely sure of it!"

"Can I really though?" I said, covering my eyes in embarrassment as I rolled around in the new bed I'd been given. "Aaah, man I really said too much."

After I'd finished with my speech, we were all nearly mobbed by students and teachers alike as they begged me for questions. Some accused me of lying, but most wanted to know more about the game and what had happened in it. However I was immediately surrounded by a group of men in suits and escorted to a large limo. The girls were all taken as well, Monika sitting beside me immediately.

The ride to the new place was completely silent. When we arrived at the house, we all just stared at it in awe. It was more of a mansion than a house, with a strong looking brick wall surrounding it. The gates opened without hesitation as we came up the driveway. There were a few people standing at the front double doors, two of whom I recognized, Yuki and my own mother, her long auburn-gray hair blowing in the breeze. The third woman was older than the others but had a remarkable resemblance to Monika. Her gaze was stern as we exited. She seemed to glare at me as I ran to embrace my mom and to say hello to Yuki, who looked the most scared out of the group.

"Grandmother?" Monika asked as she approached the elder woman.

"Monika child," the older woman said, her gaze softening as she moved to embrace Monika. "Can you explain, perchance, what is going on? I was asked to come to this place by these men after your stunt on television earlier today."

"I can explain everything," Agent Matthews said. "First off, can we all step inside?"

"You alright, Jon?" Rebecca said as we headed inside.

"I just…need to be alone for a while," I said, barely even paying attention to the grandeur around me. "I need to think and I'm exhausted."

"Here, I'll show you your room," Edward said.

"Jon, where are you going?" my mom asked.

"I need some time to think," I said.

"Would you like me to make anything?" she asked.

"Not now, but thank you," I said with a smile. I gave her and my sister a hug before Edward led me up the winding stairs towards a hallway full of doors. At the end of the hallway was a large set of double doors which opened onto a large room with a king sized bed, a desk with a very expensive looking desktop, a large flat-screen television, gaming chairs and more. The walls were covered with shelving full of books, some of which I recognized as my own personal library and others which I recognized as the books I'd created in my virtual library. There were two movable ladders attached to the shelving. In one corner was a door which led, presumably, to a bathroom. "What is with this décor?" I asked in disbelief. "I feel like Richie Rich."

"Our benefactors gave us this design and insisted we keep to these specifications," Edward said. He extended his hand. "You did well today, Mr. Price. Now just rest. We'll begin the long process of acclimating this town to the world."

I shook it firmly. "I certainly hope so."

The moment Edward was gone I stripped out of all my garments and took a long bath. Afterwards I changed into some loose slacks and a t-shirt and collapsed onto the bed. It was one of the most comfortable beds I'd ever lain on, full of support but also soft like a cloud. I took out my ponytail and removed my glasses, placing them on one of the endtables next to my bed. I turned on the fan and let the cool air wash over me.

But sleep didn't come. My mind was racing with so many lingering questions about the world. New worries came up as I thought. _How is power being generated? Will this town be placed in quarantine? Do the people have immunity to the natural world's diseases? Will the entire population need to be immunized? What about local businesses? What will they do? Oh money! Everything here is in yen, will everyone have to get American dollars? Well, I suppose that might not be as big a deal. Oh man, we're gonna need a bunch of counselors. But who can counsel someone who until recently wasn't a flesh and blood human?_

Unable to sleep, I looked around in my drawers for one of my journals and a pen. Thankfully I found one in the new computer desk. I sat against the bedrest, put one of my favorite songs on repeat and began furiously writing in an attempt to calm my own nerves and worries. During my ongoing battle with Libitina I'd done similarly in order to stave off madness, and it had worked. _Shame I lost those. I'd have loved to see those again. I could publish them, start making money to pay for the upkeep of this place. Oh God, the upkeep…_ I kept writing, and eventually the events of the day caught up to my body as well as my mind. My eyelids began to droop and the grip on my pen loosened. I slowly slid down until my head hit the pillow, the catchy beat of _Just Monika_ still playing.

"…Jon…? Wake up Jon…"

I suddenly found myself staring into a pair of glimmering green eyes dangerously close to mine. I felt a weight on me and a pair of hands on my cheeks. I smiled tiredly. "Hey…"

She held up my headphones. "Just Monika?"

I still heard the song playing through the headphones. Reaching over I paused the music. "I should probably delete that song."

"Why?"

I chuckled sadly. "It's basically retelling the story of the game, with awful puns."

She caressed my cheeks. "There's no shame in that. One ways of dealing with trauma is to make jokes about it. I'm sure the others will love it." She kissed my nose and smiled almost seductively at me.

My lips curled into a grin. "You're just intent on turning me on, aren't you?"

Her face flushed immediately. "What, that picture wasn't enough for you?" she teased.

It was my turn to blush. It seemed like a lifetime ago when she'd sent that risqué image through the command console. I looked around the room, then when I was sure we were alone, I leaned in and whispered, "That image was one of the things that kept me going in my fight."

She giggled and buried her face in my neck. Then, to my surprise, she bit my ear gently. It was all I could do to suppress my squeal. "M-Monika?"

She moved back up and put a finger on my lips. "Shhh."

_Oh God, I had no idea bedroom eyes even existed_! I felt nervous, but steeled myself for anything that might come. I returned her seductive smile with a smile of my own, reaching up and caressing her cheek. She closed her eyes and sighed happily. "How do you feel right now, Monika?" I asked softly.

She looked at me with happiness plain as day all over her face. "I've never felt so happy in my life," she replied. "I'm free of the nightmare that game put me through, my friends are with me, the town is safe and I have you as a lover." She leaned closer. "What more could I want? What about you?"

"I'm extremely happy," I said truthfully. "Not only am I back in reality and my family is alright, I've helped to save the city, the other girls and, most importantly, kept you from living through the nightmare again. But more than that, I'm looking at a goddess who descended from heaven to grace me with her presence."

Monika bit her lower lip and blushed. She lay her head on my chest. "My my, Jon, your heart is beating a mile a minute," she said, slowly grinding her hips.

I took a sharp breath, arms wrapped around her. "You're one to talk," I teased. I ran my hands up and down her back. Without any preamble she leaned in close and kissed me. It had been so long for me that it felt even better than our first and second kiss despite not being as intense as the second one. It felt natural and right.

"Jon…I love you so much," Monika said. Her face was flushed and I could tell she was feeling just as aroused as I was.

"I love you too, Monika," I said. We embraced again, kissing each other harder, my hands moving towards Monika's breasts-

My sister chose that moment to pick the lock on my door and open it. The other girls spilled in, tumbling to the ground the moment the door opened. Natsuki was the first to speak. "Nice try, Monika, locking the door." She saw what we were doing and her face reddened. "Oh my God! JON! MONIKA! What the fuck are you doing!?"

Monika and I looked at each other and giggled. "You locked the door?" I asked.

She smiled and kissed my forehead. "We'll continue later." She looked back at the girls and lay her head back on my chest. "Can't we have some private moments?"

"Not when you're going to do such indecent things!" Natsuki shouted.

I 'glared' at my sister. "And why are you here?"

Rebecca held her hands up. "They threatened my life," she joked.

"Oh no, we didn't!" Natsuki said. "And that's your brother! Say something!"

Rebecca grinned and gave me two thumbs up. "Congratulations, bro."

I laughed and said, "Thanks. So…why _are_ you all here?"

"Y-You've been in here a while, Jon," Yuri said. "We were getting worried."

"Just had some thinking to do," I said, reaching over to my journal and holding it up. "Sorry for worrying you."

"It's alright," Sayori said, running over and bouncing on the bed eagerly. "Wow, you have a large bed Jon!"

Yuri was looking at the large wall of books, eyes wide. Natsuki was just watching what was happening on my bed, hands on her hips and face red, and my sister was just standing at the door giggling like a maniac. I slowly sat up. Looking out the window my eyes widened. "It's snowing!"

Everyone turned towards the window. The moment they did so, they all rushed to press their faces against it, all except Monika who remained by my side. "I've never seen snow," she said. "but I've heard it's beautiful and peaceful. Is it, Jon?"

"Why don't we go outside and look?"

Monika got off of me and headed to the door. I followed her and the other girls followed close behind. We headed down the stairs and through the large foyer. The snow was falling heavily now, starting to stick to the ground. The evening sky was still darkening, but it was still bright enough to see the snowflakes. The girls just stared at the falling flakes. Yuri stepped forward and caught one on her white turtleneck and looked at it in the light. "Fascinating…it looks so beautiful."

"Yuri, of course it's beautiful!" Sayori said as she danced around. "I never knew clouds could produce something so beautiful."

I detected a hint of sadness in her voice. To my surprise, Monika walked over and hugged her from behind. "Not all rainclouds are bad," she said. "Rain is just melted snow, after all."

Sayori turned and hugged Monika back, crying suddenly. Monika began softly sobbing as well. Yuri walked over and stood close to the two. Natsuki kept her distance, looking uncomfortable. Walking over to Natsuki, I gave her a gentle push. "H-Hey! What are you-?"

"There's no need for any of you to hold back anymore," I said. "You four were so strong today, but you can let it all out."

"D-Dummy…I don't need to let it out…" her voice trembled.

"Natsuki, you're safe now. You're out of that hellhole, your father isn't going to be a problem anymore and your friends are all alive." She sniffed and attempted to hide it, but I pulled her hand away and led her to her friends. "Be weak for once, and let your friends support you."

Monika turned and took Natsuki's hand. "Come on, Natsuki."

Natsuki broke. She began sobbing hard and joined in the group hug. My sister was gently pushing Yuri in as well. Yuri wasn't crying as hard, but I assumed she was letting all her own pain and frustration go. I went and stood next to my sister, putting my arm around her. Rebecca leaned her head on my shoulder. "They all look so much happier than I ever remember their sprites being," she whispered.

"Agreed."

"We have our work cut out for us," Rebecca said.

"Wait, we?"

Rebecca looked up at me. "I'm not letting my big brother take on all this responsibility, you know. I'm the one who introduced you to Doki Doki. I want to help you in any way I can."

"You're the best little sister ever," I said.

She giggled. "I'm the only little sister you have."

"Still makes you the best."

As the girls hugged each other and let their emotions run free, the snow fell softly around us, coating the landscape with white. I looked up at the sky. _Am I ready to do this?_ I clenched my fist and smiled. _Yes. I am_.

* * *

YouTube

Uploader: UltimateRage-Banner

Time Uploaded: 7:21 AM, October 29, 2019

Video length: 3hr51min21sec

Title: Real DDLC?

Comment Section

23Millhouse-Rules: This is the most elaborate DDLC cosplaying display I've ever seen.

DDLCMegaFan: Do you think this has anything to do with that new city in Oregon?

UmbrielDiva: DDLCMegaFan The timing is pretty coincidental.

Xeria666: Hey UltimateRage-Banner, where did you film this? It looks like a Japanese school.

YanneBuxom: The person playing Monika looks like she's only half-Japanese.

SayoriVA: whose bright idea was it to give me a last name?

GiR-iS-bEsT: SayoriVA, I like the name Suzuki. It sort of rolls off the tongue.

Unobtanium: I wonder how much this cost to set up and how many practice runs they had to go through.

2qree: I think I recognize the man playing that Jon Price character. Idiot didn't even change his name.

DemonLordDiablo: 2qree, can you ask him about it?

2qree: DemonLordDiablo, I can't get in touch with him, but I'll keep trying.

Filolial-Walker: 2qree, Thanks!

2qree: Filolial-Walker, DemonLordDiablo, he finally texted me back, said he's doing a press conference on Sunday.

DemonLordDiablo: 2qree Great!

Filolial-Walker: 2qree Can't wait!

* * *

The streets of Midokita were white with the heavy snowfall, but the entire town was lit up with the signs of Christmas. People were walking down the street with what appeared to me to be a spring in their step. Despite this city being based off of a Japanese setting, the local schools had unanimously closed for the holidays. "After all," Ito-Sensei had told me when it was announced, "we all need a nice holiday to clear our heads at what's been happening to us in the past couple months."

I agreed and had spent a lot of my time decorating the house. The simple labor of putting lights up on the roof and inside helped me to think more clearly. "You're really into Christmas, aren't you?" Natsuki observed with a giggle as I was placing garlands on the banisters.

"You're one to talk," I said with a teasing grin. "Who's the one making sugar cookies in the kitchen?"

"Keep talking like that and you won't get any," she laughed.

"Ah no, anything but that!" I said in fake distress.

Ever since we'd arrived that day in late October, I'd been helping to try and bridge the two worlds that had suddenly collided. I'd had an exclusive press conference to try and explain as best I could what had happened. Once people began to accept the truth it wasn't long before all sorts of people began trying to get into the city in droves. The only street that remained open was the road in and out of town and it was almost always full.

As I'd promised the girls, one of the first things I'd done was to take all of them up to Portland to eat at a nice restaurant. There we all shared some poems that we'd all written on Monika's request and the tension we'd been feeling began to dissipate. We talked about what we as a group could do in the future. I even mentioned going to Hawaii.

"You just want to see us in our swimsuits, don't you?" Natsuki asked.

"Yeah, and?"

She looked away, face flushed. "Dummy…"

"So cuuuute!" Sayori said.

We were flown back in a helicopter and spent the next couple of months working on the integration process. Every evening the girls, my sister and myself would meet in my room and go over the day's events and discuss possible solutions. Monika nearly never left my side, sleeping beside me every night.

"Jon?"

I was broken out of my reverie by Monika. She was wearing a thick white coat and a Santa hat. "Ah sorry, just thinking about the past couple of months."

She took my hand. "Come on, let's go! Your present is waiting!" She pulled me down an all too familiar street until we came to a small apartment complex. She pulled me up and opened a familiar door.

The inside of my first apartment in the city was empty now, having not been rented out to a new tenant yet. The only thing I could see was a soft looking futon lying in the center of the tatami mat. "It's been a while since we were here," I said, reminiscing about the nearly two weeks we spent in this apartment.

"It has," she said. "I wanted to see it one more time before it's rented out."

I smiled and put an arm around my girlfriend. "So why here?"

She turned to me, grinned and gave me a playful shove. Unprepared I stumbled down and landed on my back on top of the futon. Monika released the buttons on her coat and it fell away, revealing a very revealing red dress with white trim. "I wanted to give you my present here without anyone else around. And don't worry, I locked the door." She unzipped the dress in one motion and let it fall away. In the dim light I saw everything, her elegant figure silhouetted in the light behind her. She straddled me at that moment, removing my own jacket and shirt. "Like what you see?" she asked softly in my ear.

"Very much," I said.

She blushed and traced her fingers over my chest. "Me too." Leaning down our lips locked in passion…and the rest is history.

* * *

**And with that, this fanfic ends. I'm debating on whether or not I should make a sequel or write another OC insert into DDLC, but with another twist. Thanks for staying with me through this journey!**

**morbiusgreen**


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